michaeljarmer

#288: Classes I Could Teach

I’ve been a school teacher for a very long time but I never did get to teach the classes I think students really need. Here’s a short list of my best work, potentially, as an educator: Be Really Quiet 101 How Not to Be an Ass Favorite Words for Beginners Advanced Favorite Words Poems forContinue reading “#288: Classes I Could Teach”

#287: The Resident 12 Year Old Writes a Bunch of Easter Egg Notes for His Dad

(a found poem, with minor edits) Out of all the people I could think to be my dad, you fall into that category easily. Thank you for making me grilled cheese sandwiches so I don’t die. All around people love you (the person in front of you, your lodge buddies, your workspace friends, etc.); youContinue reading “#287: The Resident 12 Year Old Writes a Bunch of Easter Egg Notes for His Dad”

#286: When Easter Falls on April Fools Day

The first poem of the month has a provocative title, and suggests, provocatively, that Jesus was joking. He made us think he was dead and then rose again on the third day, the first day of April, to shoot hoops with his friends. Most everyone was totally fished in. You would be. But of course,Continue reading “#286: When Easter Falls on April Fools Day”

Gearing Up for NaPoWriMo 2018

In six days I will embark once again (for the fifth year in a row!) on the endeavor to write a poem a day each day for the entire month of April. Won’t you join me? I will post every single one of these things, the good, the bad, and the ugly, right here upContinue reading “Gearing Up for NaPoWriMo 2018”

#285: A Poem Against Nothing

During meditation practice today I wrote some words and phrases on two notecards in response to the following three meditative prompts: Nothing, Form, and Intention. As a writer, I live in the world of specificity, concrete detail, or in ideas expressed explicitly and with clarity. Sometimes I struggle with some of the more esoteric aspectsContinue reading “#285: A Poem Against Nothing”

#284: The American English Teacher Tries Not to Be Afraid While Doing His Job

Two nights ago I woke up at 3 a.m. and could not go back to sleep. It was not a nightmare that woke me. Just some disturbance in the force that momentarily stirred me from slumber. Immediately upon opening my eyes, though, a waking nightmare: I was thinking about those kids in Florida, and I wasContinue reading “#284: The American English Teacher Tries Not to Be Afraid While Doing His Job”

Diary of an English Teacher in His Penultimate Year: February 15, 2018

Today I wrapped up three full days of sitting with my senior IB English students, listening to their oral commentaries on a poem by Seamus Heaney and holding discussions with them about Virginia Woolf’s A Room of One’s Own and Toni Morrison’s Beloved. I sat with almost 25 students, just me and the kid, one at a time, forContinue reading “Diary of an English Teacher in His Penultimate Year: February 15, 2018”

Concert Review Confessions: St. Vincent at the Keller Auditorium, Portland, Oregon, January 20.

In part because I have listened to all five St. Vincent albums over recent days in preparation for the live appearance this last weekend here in Portland, I have made no new progress on the H section of my CD collection, on my alphabetical listening and blogging project that seems to go on forever. Instead,Continue reading “Concert Review Confessions: St. Vincent at the Keller Auditorium, Portland, Oregon, January 20.”

If I Am Not My Body and I Am Not My Mind, Who Am I?

Sometimes I have difficulty with the more woo woo aspects of mindfulness practice. I tend to think about my meditation, for example, in pretty straight forward terms. I sit. I close my eyes. I breathe. I pay attention to the breath. If my mind wanders, I notice that, and then I try to bring myContinue reading “If I Am Not My Body and I Am Not My Mind, Who Am I?”

Mindfulness in 2017: A Reflection

Here’s the new year’s resolution I made two years ago for 2016: I resolve in 2016 to be more mindful, to find opportunities daily for meditation practice, and to seek out a community, some companionship on the journey. This resolution was a resounding success. I found myself a community that still meets two years laterContinue reading “Mindfulness in 2017: A Reflection”