Well The Road Trip from Stratford to Columbus Is Here. @NCTE, @writingproject, We're On Our Way, But First I Wish to Reflect on the Day That Just Was

I'm thankful to Sarah Donovan who posted, honestly, about the thrill of coming to a national conference but an admittance of also seeing the appeal of sitting home. I most definitely am extroverted by nature, but the boys know (as do many who know me best) that I'm also introverted (I know. I know. I know. That's laughable). Seriously, though. It's my introverted nature - the non-committal one - that those who know me best understand. I have no problem being alone, getting work done, in the company of my imagination. I much prefer spending energy writing, planning, editing, and dreaming. When I have to implement, I bring out my inner Jim Carey meets Robin Williams, but the truth is, I spend most of my time living inside my head. I prefer it there. 

Alas, that's not what conference season requires.

Yesterday, although I planned on NOT being in class and worked with a colleague to take over, a Thursday departure meant I should be in class, so I was there, conferencing with the 20 Honors Writers I have about their midterm opportunity (a narrative or a sestina) while Julie brilliantly led a conversation on border crossing, the Palestine/Israel conflict, boundaries, and humanitarian action. Before she got there, however, I threw back to the brilliance of @Othello88 (Dave Wooley) and verse he wrote in response to Refugee Trilogy - the artwork of Rick Shaefer created in 2017. With finesse, insight, and mad skill, he crafted Walls while participating in a teacher-leadership institute at Fairfield University. 

Walls

I hear the carnival barker screaming stranger danger– What ever happened to love thy neighbor?
They’re chantin’ build that wall–I’m hearing hate and anger, Lust and excitement and calls to violence,

Our discourse morphed to inciting riots
This Christian coalition’s a fiction–did they hear Christ? Celebrating biblical journeys in their church lives,
From Noah to Moses to when Lot fled Sodom,
Abraham in Canaan, Adam and Eve leaving the garden, Our huddled masses now, where’s their asylum?
Where’s their clear path, where’s their Ellis Island? Awaiting trial within detention center confinement?
Or in the clutches of a Coyote steering clear of la migra? Or a girl living in the shadows where nobody can see her? Now we’re swooning from our America first fever?
I thought we were supposed to be a beacon of freedom...

And on the other side, a child fleeing for his life,
An offer to join a gang at the point of a knife–
His sister’s caught the leader’s eye, he’s gonna make her his wife, So he grabs her, gathers some things–he doesn’t think twice– They hop the fire-breathing beast in the dead of the night,
La bestia, the death train, their ray of light,
They ride on top of freight cars--no room inside,
Gangs, police, and pimps got ‘em in fear for their lives,
Hunger and dehydration keep their bodies deprived
And they cling to one another, keeping each other alive
And it’s still 1400 miles until the end of their ride
And there’s still a border crossing, coyotes and extortion
A raft across the Rio Grande, US Border enforcement–
They’re the only family they’ve got and they’re out of choices,

And these are the kids that you’re tryin’ to keep out?
There’s no wall that their love and desperation can’t surmount.

The broken vestiges of an empire fallen
The thing that makes us great is what they find abhorrent
The consequences of our actions are knocking on our door and We’re afraid to look through the peephole and see who’s calling a new generation of Americans coming to our shores– American dreaming–building bridges and not putting up walls. So, no, I’m not listening to the carnival barker
We gotta knock down the walls, be a light in the darkness– Putting up walls only makes you a target and
Reaching out your hand seems a whole lot smarter.

This morning, very early, we are hitting the road with Rich Novack, Reading Landscapes and Writing Nature, and heading west to meet with English teaching sages from across the country. In my head, the road trip is a much needed break away from 14-hour days of being introverted and on my computer screen, to be in company of others.

Ah, but to get to this point takes labor...exhaustive, immeasurable time and coordination to take time away from others to attend. Sadly, a large cohort of our teacher-leaders could not get time from their districts and had to pull out last minute. This is the reality of our K-12 schools right now. Of course, Covid gave us opportunity to learn that much of the work can be done from screen (which was weird, but it worked). Now, with face-to-face returns, I'm very conscious on the toll it has on mind, body, and spirit, even when it is fabulous work. 

So, here's to all making the adventure. The highlight for me is swinging my Oberlin to pick up Dave and Kris's son, Isaiah, so he can do the gravy train with his family - the whole reason we're going with four wheels over wings.

This post is for family: NCTE, The National Writing Project, and neighbors who I love dearly.

And we're off!