Surviving 2nd Language Acquisition . . . and then She Appeared . . .

Surviving 2nd Language Acquisition . . . and then She Appeared . . .

Schools to my immigrant uneducated parents were “Temples of Learning” and teachers were “Holy”.
The plan was simple – they would sacrifice and I would attend school.
Their past would not dictate my future.
But what they did not realize was that sometimes classrooms can imprison and oppress.
I was not learning but merely surviving – until she appeared . . .

A Ritual to Read to Each Other

A Ritual to Read to Each Other

William Stafford had a quiet daily ritual of writing focusing on the ordinary.
His poetic style seems to invite a conversation that is close to everyday speech to remain alert and ‘awake’ for there is many a small betrayal in the wind.
“I call it cruel and maybe the root of all cruelty to know what occurs but not recognize the fact.”

William Stafford, “A Ritual to Read to Each Other” from The Way It Is: New and Selected Poems. Copyright © 1998 by William Stafford.