by Kelly Keene When I was a first-year teacher, the excitement of starting my first school year with my own classroom came with a side of stress and anxiety. The amount of work it takes to set up a new classroom from scratch, in a very limited timeframe, pressures most new educators to get their … Continue reading Another August
writing
A Teacher’s Summer Break
By Kelly Keene "You get summers off," people tell me whenever I mention the challenges of teaching. They're right, we only get paid ten months out of the year. But what they don't realize is that even though teachers don't get paid for those two months, we somehow are still expected to work through them. … Continue reading A Teacher’s Summer Break
Rejection
By Kelly Keene Why does the softshut of a doorfeel like a slapin the face? Minutes thatpressed into hours ofmy past waitingfor ghosts thatnever showed up for me. Promises woven insubtle gestures,slipped like coarserope through mysweaty,bleedingpalms. Off handed, lastminute plansmentioned withouttimes or details,or the remembrancesthat no, I was notin that group chat. Laughter bouncing offtinted … Continue reading Rejection
The Leaves
by Kelly Keene Crunch. Whisp. Flutter. They are fairies at my feet. A gentle breeze shakes them to dance. A powerful gust makes them fly. Rainbows of yellow, orange, and gold frost the sidewalks in a confectioner's sugar display. They move the jogger to patter in shorter, quicker steps. Munch. Crunch. Scrunch. They compel small … Continue reading The Leaves
Clarity
by Kelly Keene The particles muddy life's waters. Clouds congest blue open skies. We misunderstand advice from our fathers. Generational wisdom dies. We mumble and post nonsense online. We saturate networks with content. The next generation, the next great idea, bends us- no spine. Time, energy, attention- all spent. The path from A to B … Continue reading Clarity
Don’t Stop for Death; An Analysis of Emily Dickinson’s “Because I Could Not Stop For Death”
by Kelly Keene The one certainty we know in life is that at some point, it ends. This is a scary thought for many. Even billionaires, with all the wealth and power they possess, cannot thwart death itself. Emily Dickinson, in her poem Because I Could Not Stop For Death paints an image of Death … Continue reading Don’t Stop for Death; An Analysis of Emily Dickinson’s “Because I Could Not Stop For Death”
A Guiding Star: An Analysis of “To a Star Seen at Twilight” by John Rollin Ridge
By Kelly Keene To a Star Seen at Twilight by John Rollin Ridge is a poem about inspiration. The speaker, a solitary observer, pauses to look at the first star to appear as night begins to fall. Twilight, the last vestige of light before the total dark, blocks out all stars except for the brightest … Continue reading A Guiding Star: An Analysis of “To a Star Seen at Twilight” by John Rollin Ridge
Kelly Keene 