the Most Beautiful Thing Today

The most beautiful thing happened today. One of my students drafted a poem. 

We are at a distance. Separated, in the middle of our stay at home period, our indefinite time away from school period, our required time of social distance. Through all of that mess, one sweet student began the work of writing a poem… and it was beautiful

Just a few days ago, she reached out to me. “I’m bored,” she complained. So, as any writing teacher would do, I suggested she write. "You can write this... you can write that... you can create... any subject you want." It was all I could do at this time to support her. I offered ideas, and it felt like watering a tiny plant and then waiting for flowers to grow. I waited. I checked back and commented on her work, as well as the other students who are working to write.  

There are other students who write and for each of them I reach out with all that I have to write back and encourage, push, and cheer for them. I invite them to write. They feel alone. I hear it in their writing. They are not alone, just away from their peers, their teachers, and school.  
  
Today, a poem appeared and it filled up my heart. In her poem, I hear her loneliness. Her solitude and a will to find words that show what she feels. I sat and just smiled and soaked in the poem. Then, I stopped for a moment and took time to wonder.

Does she know how beautiful it is? I’m sure that she doesn’t. She can’t possibly know how beautiful... the depth, the solitude, and loneliness it exudes.  

The most beautiful thing happened today. I got the chance to read a beautiful draft of a poem.