My mind is focusing more and more on school lately, and I’m locked into a repeat ride on an emotional roller coaster. I veer without warning from corkscrewing anxiety into a butterfly loop of excitement at being back in the classroom then bank around a corner to spiral into feeling overwhelmed then zoom up the next hill feeling energized until I lose momentum and tip over the top, then dive, practically free-falling, down that mountain of anxiety again. And that all can happen within a span of one minute. Over and over and over.
August 2020
Water’s rising
in Anxiety River.
Forecast is calling
for unrelenting rain
with the potential
for severe thunderstorms.
There’s bound to be flooding.
What are you doing
to sandbag?
©Molly Hogan
Still, I remain cautiously optimistic…
a golden shovel after Bruce Springsteen’s “Thunder Road”
It’s a real s*!t show
out there these days, with a
barrage of bad news and little
to leaven the load. My faith
in community, in country, wobbles. There’s
no steady base. We don’t need magic,
but science, and compassion and a belief in
the power of “us” to alleviate the
burden and to shine a light out into the night.
©Molly Hogan
Ramona is hosting the Roundup this week at her blog, Pleasures from the Page. Make sure to stop by and check out the bountiful offerings on her post and to celebrate her first time hosting.
And a last minute quick draft to celebrate a happy moment in my kitchen this evening:
From one
forgotten
rotting tomato,
a questing seedling
emerges.
Hope
sprouts.
©Molly Hogan
Nix the comfort zone 
Oh, that little rotten tomato made me smile on twitter. I love the unabashed green sprout! That word, base….oh, it just makes me anxious to read it. I want this political season to be over yesterday. I need to get my absentee ballot application in this weekend. I saw a mask today that made me laugh, “I vote like a girl!” Ha! Me too.
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I love the word “unabashed” — “base”, not so much! I just got my absentee ballot application in the mail and need to complete it this weekend as well. Between school starting and the election looming there’s just too much going on!
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Love that tomato sprouting, too. And your anxiety weather report poem. Lots of writing and getting it all out there……eager to hear how things end up going for you, Molly.
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Thanks, Janet. That little tomato made me ridiculously happy. I’m going to stick it in a pot and see what happens.
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Have you looked at a weather map lately? We have two potential hurricanes heading our way. Can 2020 get any more crazy?!
Thanks for your emotional roller coaster ride of poems today.
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Don’t even ask, Margaret! Of course it can get crazier!!!
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Moving from tension to hope is a positive move, Molly. It is normal for teachers to get nervous before the opening of school but this year brings a new level of anxiety. Your poems are clever and enjoyable to read.
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Thanks, Carol. It is a pretty intense roller coaster ride sometimes!
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I feel the same way this week, Molly. I love all of your poems! The first one captures the tumult of emotions perfectly. The next two both end with the hope we so desperately need. Thank you for articulating it all so beautifully!
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Thanks, Catherine. As the first day approaches, I feel like I’m getting wound up tighter and tighter. I have no idea how this is all going to work!
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What a gift to read your poems this morning. Oh, I feel that roller coaster ride for all who are facing this new school year! I’m celebrating your little hope sprout and will look forward to hearing what happens. My load was lifted and alleviated as I watched all four nights of the DNC. Now on to the work of shining lights.
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The work of shining lights is indeed important!
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I love tomatoes and I have never seen one sprout like that. I was astounded! I wish you the best with school. You poems express well the roller coaster ride you must be on. God bless all the teachers and students!
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That tomato sprout really did make me ridiculously happy. It was so unexpected and hopeful! Thanks for the good wishes.
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While I enjoyed all three, I do have to say I’m partial to your little tomato, sprouting hope. It reminds me of the line spoken by Dr. Ian Malcolm in the first Jurassic World movie: “Mother Nature finds a way.” She does, indeed!
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Thanks, Matt! That tomato seedling really “spoke” to me!
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“Anxiety River” – ha! And, yes. Thanks for sharing all these creative takes on the current state of things. Molly. My daughter’s third graders (well, half of them to start) are filling seats once more as of this morning in Georgia – here’s to everyone’s new school year, however go the ebbs and flows….
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