hay(na)ku 05/08/15

sometimes
the silence
can be deafening

©2015-Art Belliveau

Lunchtime

 I open my lunch box.

Inside I find a delicious sandwich
Made with a special ingredient.

No meal made by my own hands
Could ever be the equal
To one made for me with love.

©2015-Art Belliveau

seventh graders

seventh graders
frantic, hormonal
talking, laughing, crying
life's a roller coaster
my kids

©2015-Art Belliveau

Rondolet for Heather

Your lovely face
Brings to my heart enormous joy
Your lovely face
Reminds me nothing can replace
My very own Helen of Troy
You are truly the real McCoy
Your lovely face

©2015-Art Belliveau

Late April Inservice

Wednesday, after school, an inservice class meets
in the library to talk about iPads.
Nervously, the anxious instructor smiles, greets
us, tries to put us at ease, knowing we've scads
of things we'd really rather be doing now.
It's spring, we're antsy, so she'll have to allow
for our fatigue--we're almost slap happy here--
as we learn new things that will help us--next year.

©2015-Art Belliveau

Grading Papers

Sitting alone in my room,
Grading papers after class.
Wanting desperately to give good grades,

But knowing I will deal out fair grades.
The only way to give them growing room
When they all come back to class.

And I know that tomorrow, in class,
When I hand them back their grades,
I'll have to motivate the room.

"Class, remember, with revision there is room to raise your grades."


©2015-Art Belliveau

Looking for a Metaphor

I thought
for a long time
that I was a catalyst.
I was there to speed up
and sometimes start
my students and their thinking.
A catalyst in chemical reactions
does that.
And I was proud of my metaphor.
Until...
Not being a science teacher,
I discovered my understanding
of a catalyst was flawed.
A catalyst does indeed start
and/or speed up a chemical reaction--
but in doing so,
it remains unchanged.
And after twenty-eight years of teaching
there is one thing I am sure of...
teaching all these kids has changed me.
So I think I need a different metaphor--
I am not the same person
who started this ride so long ago.
I am different in ways both good and bad
but there is no way
I could do this
and remain
unaffected.

©2015-Art Belliveau

haiku

springtime afternoon
ducks gobbling strawberries
dogs circle the fence

©2015-Art Belliveau

untitled

your love
is rain
falling on my
desiccated
heart

©2015-Art Belliveau

senryu

sun shines through window
illuminating the test
but not the answers

©2015-Art Belliveau