Sample of a reverse poem -

I love to show students the reverse poem titled, "The Lost Generation," by Jonathan Reed. To just keep myself creative and sharp, I tried my own version. It's not easily done quickly unless you use Reed's poem closely as a model.  Not a bad little ditty...


I am part of a dying profession
and I refuse to believe that
I can still inspire my students
I realize this may be a shock but
"All students can succeed"
is a lie, and
"Students are lazy."
I will tell my students
They are not the reason for my passion in life
The politicians will know that
I have my priorities straight because
test scores
are more important than
independent thinkers
I tell you this
Once upon a time
Teachers cared
but this will not be true in my time
This is a shallow society
Experts tell me
10 years from now, I will have left the teaching profession
I do not concede that
I will design a lesson full of creativity
Every day forward
Online or packaged programs will be the norm and
no longer can it be said that
my peers and I care about the welfare of our students
It will be evident
that teachers are data analysts
It is foolish to presume that
There is hope
and all of this will come true unless we choose to reverse it...

As the World Turns...

My writing life has taken some jumps, dips, stalls, and hard turns. It doesn't stress me too much, as I have another career that provides my income.  And, I've been assured by many writers that this is not uncommon. I've left my publishing house. After one year, they have not been able to publish my book, and I was told to find and pay for my own illustrator.  It wasn't part of the contract, nor of our original discussions, so I told them that it was unacceptable to change the rules after they'd already missed the prime sales for my Christmas story.  I'd already completed a second manuscript as part of a series, and I was beginning my third.

That is not the interesting part of this story. What is interesting is that I posted a status update on Facebook and was contacted (almost immediately) by people in the publishing world and other authors.  Now that I'm in the publishing/writing world, there is a nice network of support.  I have wonderful peers in all types of genre-writing and all stages of their careers.

I'm reminded that people and relationships are a prime success factor for me. They are more important to me than the books.  Integrity and professionalism are the legacy I want to leave.

What do you want to be remembered for?  What do you want as your legacy?