As the evening went on, and the more I started to reflect, the more I became sure I was mistaken. I wrote this poem during the 2010 Invitational Summer Institute (ISI) of the National Writing Project (NWP) at Florida Gulf Coast University (FGCU). I can't believe it was five years ago! I was knee deep in the journey toward my doctorate. The poem reflects the sacrifice to my creativity I felt while teaching full time, putting in countless hours of studying and producing a massive volume of academic writing, and being a mom and wife. Little did I know at the time it would become an artifact in my dissertation three years later.
NWP changed my life in so many ways, as a teacher, as a writer, as a person. It led me to one of my dearest friends who I later partnered with to begin the writing group I have since come to hold so dear. It led me to the labor of love that was my dissertation. It continues to be a part of the work I do today and inspires me as an educator. Participation in the ISI that year not only informed my teaching, but brought out a side of me that was dormant and waiting to be awakened. This was the beginning of my awakening. As promised to my beloved writing group sisters, here is
The Forgotten Dance
I've lost my artist's pen
It may be buried
Under my lesson plans,
My curriculum maps, my students' work
I think it may be hidden
Beneath the textbooks,
The journal articles, the sticky notes
I've lost my artist's pen
I may have washed it
Away with the sheets,
The clothes, the rest of the laundry
I think I caught a glimpse of it
In the drawer with my creative license,
My Crayola colors, my Origami paper
I've lost my artist's pen
I may have spotted it
Up high on a shelf
With my photos,
My journals, my poetry
It calls to me in my dreams
It stares at me from the shelf
It begs of me
Remember me
Hold me
Dance with me
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