PO-EMOTIONS #9- COURAGE

April is National Poetry Month. Every year, my dear friend (and poet Extraordinaire), Mary Lee Hahn chooses a theme, and writes a poem each day. Mary Lee blogs and posts her poems at two different places- YEAR OF READING and a fabulous new poetry blog POETREPOSITORY.

This year, Mary Lee has chosen the theme, "PO-EMotions," and is writing about a different emotion each day. She promises, "This year, I will write a poem a day that either evokes an emotion, or uses an emotion word in the title or body of the poem." Her list of emotions is here. I'm joining her, at least some days.

Today's emotion is courage.

Courage: A Poem in Two Voices

(Dedicated to EL, the most courageous kid I have ever taught)

School? Been going for more than half my life
Started when I was five Bachelors, Masters, Ph.D.
	Started when I was four. Perfect attendance four of my six years. Good citizen and hardest worker awards pretty much every year
Golf? I tried it.
	Reading? I’ve tried it.
Took lessons, every Saturday morning, at 8:00 for two months straight.
	One hundred eighty days a year. Six years straight.
even one when it poured and we all had to stand under huge golf umbrellas between shots
	even after school tutoring. and three years of summer school too, when all the other kids were outside riding bikes and  swimming and hanging out with their friends.
learned proper stance how to drive how to putt
	learned the alphabet phonics comprehension strategies
I was awful at it that person that always needed extra help from the instructor
the eighth lesson I drove to the golf course sat in my car for a few minutes decided I didn’t want to go for one more day of humiliation I went out to breakfast instead
		every day I show up and try as hard as I can and after school I meet with Mr. L sometimes he isn’t is his classroom and I have to look all over the school or have the secretary page him.
I quit. I can’t play golf. I have no hand eye coordination. And I refuse to embarrass myself in front of everyone else.
		I know I’m not nearly as good as the other kids And it’s kind of embarrassing when I have to ask someone to help me read the math and social studies books
I’ll never be a golfer. I’m not even going to try.
Sometimes courage showing up every single day. (C) Carol Wilcox, 2015		I really want to read like everyone else does. I know if I just keep trying I will figure it out  someday. is just about  and doing your best