First Page Poem – 12th December 2024

Despite the forbidding blank page
I still write
Despite the disquieting dread rage
I still fight

Despite the illusions cast in light
I still see
Despite the end almost in sight
I still be

Despite the rocky paths ahead
I still ride
Despite promises the tiger said
I still hide

Despite the gold in my hand
I still need
Despite the words that are banned
I still read

Despite the worry of the yield
I still feed
Despite the crows across the field
I still seed

Despite the depression taking hold
I still strive
Despite this train now grown old
I still arrive

Shared with dVerse Poetics: “Despite and Still“

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Today I’m feeling:

Great, despite getting up a couple of times in the night, the second time with forty minutes before my alarm was due to go off. I contemplated just getting up but managed to get back into a light sleep before the alarm roused me again.

Day 2 of BetterMe exercise was tough as it was concentrating on arms, so involved different types of push-ups, which my weakling little arms and dodgy shoulder still struggle with.

At school, I wandered around talking with students at the different stalls for Japan Day and everyone was in a good mood. I particularly enjoyed watching my students submit the tasks that I assigned them instead of having a class. I got them counting to ten, taking cosplay photos and singing songs. Some students surprised me, though not the lazy ones who didn’t bother to submit anything.

Health:

Physical: 8
Mental: 8

Today I’m grateful for:

Free time. With no classes today, I spent a lot of time wandering around school and sitting in the cafe.

Eventually, I had had enough and decided to come home early with the idea of telling the school that I forgot to sign out when I left today.

Because of all the free time, I got to prepare a lot of my photocopies for my visa application, clear up the backlog of poetry to read and get back to the garage as they didn’t plug the reversing camera back in yesterday.

The best thing about today was:

Feeling on top of things in general. Not one thing stands out in particular today.

What was out of your control today and how did you handle it?

My lazy students bothered me a little bit today but only in that they made me work harder chasing them up throughout the day and evening.

Personally, their laziness is their choice and doesn’t actually affect me.

Something I learned today?

I am delighted to see that Nong Praew is super happy in her new school. I hope she does well there, where she seems to have some friends.