Potter's Musings
Thoughts on anything and everything from an experienced teacher.
Friday, October 3, 2025
Poem: October
Thursday, October 2, 2025
Poem: A Pantoum of Leaves
Tuesday, September 9, 2025
Poem: Where Does One Draw the Line?
About This Poem:
I wrote this poem shortly after attending a school board meeting about a list of books that some community members (none parents of students in our district) objected to and wanted removed from the shelves. I found the entire request absurd, but I listened patiently and then suggested that no book be excluded from the library without being reviewed by a committee after having read the entire book. One guy said that was absurd because he could tell that the entire book was obscene based on this one passage he had read. I hadn't read the book (I found his claims of the cow scene the way he described it as hard to believe, but perhaps...No other context was given), but the conversation inspired this poem. The photo is the high school library where the meeting occurred. That room has inspired several poems in me...
Monday, September 8, 2025
Poem: Who You Really Just Are
Wednesday, August 27, 2025
Poem: Respect for the River
Wednesday, August 20, 2025
249. American Activism
American Activism
I have had over a year to think about another thing that I love about America and it hit me that I really like how American people don’t just put up with things they disagree with. Henry David Thoreau refused to pay his taxes (no withholding from paychecks in the 19th century) and spent a night in jail because he objected to being complicit in paying for the Mexican American was with which he disagreed. Rosa Parks just got sick and tired of sitting in the back of the bus while paying the same fare. Martin Luther King, Jr. led protests and was often thrown into prison for civil rights for Black Americans.
While Americans often avoid politics and stay pretty mute about it, seeming to be disengaged, they organize and join protests and rallies frequently when their elected officials don’t listen to them at all, claiming mandates merely by being elected. The Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s is a great example, but I think we’re living in another turbulent era when Americans are again speaking out in ways other than voting.
Some of my friends and I gather regularly to organize and write letters encouraging our elected representatives to listen to us. While that has some success, many of us have gone to protests, stood outside in the cold encouraging people to vote, or sign petitions to raise our concerns on the ballot for people to have their say with the vote. Like I said, our success varies but it feels good to be with others who demand that their voices are not ignored. This is something that I love about Americans: we are activists.
Sunday, August 17, 2025
Poem: Who Doesn't Know the Shame?
About This Poem:
This is a poem about feeling misunderstood, something that has happened to all of us. I think two things can come of being misunderstood: 1) you resent others for not understanding you; 2) you begin to understand others feeling out of place because you have been there. This poem aims at that second feeling: empathy. The photo is just a selfie gone bad, but I kept it and now I know why. :)