Happy Holidays!

 Just a quick note of gratitude...

 Thank you for your dedication to quality online learning at HCC. It's been an eventful year and I've been reflecting back on all of the ups and downs we have had. It's a true testament of our community when, together, we can pull together to ensure that our students have the learning experience they deserve, no matter the medium. We've also lost some dear colleagues this year and the loss has been profound. We've all been tested and tried this year; every day seemed to be a new challenge. But, together, you continued on providing the best quality of instruction and learning how to be flexible through UDL. Thank you, all, for going above and beyond to ensure our students finished strong. 

A former colleague of mine, Dr. Amy Sage Webb, has been publishing a poem-a-day and I particularly enjoyed the following:

 

Gifts

The cat who sneaks up

behind you on the back

of the sofa to show its

devotion by digging

its claws into your head.

The kid handing over

a half licked sticky popsicle

to share a flavor you might like.

The friend’s invitation to share

in the construction of the four

hundred forty piece IKEA

kitchen cabinet set with one

Allen wrench. For some people

Christmas gifts are like this

so it’s best to let them be

if they are not very merry.

 

 

The day we learn rhythm

someone on screen steps

forward with the left while

I step back with the right

and we hold our hands

in front of us across

the virtual space and

rock step cha cha cha.

The day we do blues

poems the drummer

on the screen light-sticks

a through line behind

the verses we howl

in the class

from behind

our masks.

The day students present

poetic forms

somebody

gets bombed

by dogs

scrambling Terza Rima

down a flight of stairs.

The day the semester ends

the guy assigned the folk ballad

has written one about us, our

class, a metaphorical

metaphysical ship becalmed

in a Dead Horse Sea

where we are tested

on poetic vocabulary

and as captain I’m tasked

to harmonize an ABAB quatrain

refrain while the student plays

guitar and someone screen

shares the lyrics, and someone

paces stairs wearing a

Renaissance hat and the pet

rats and pups and cats

are lifted into the frames

one last time

to wave goodbye.

In this strange, estranged

season this is how we keep

the channels open, how we

come together, make

communion, sing

 

 

Poem-a-Day by Dr. Amy Sage Webb,

English, Modern Languages, and Journalism Professor

12/13/20 & 12/3/20

Merry Christmas, friends and Happy New Year! When midnight strikes on December 31st, raise your glass and celebrate with me, Cheers to a New Year, a year of renewed hope and faith!

Take care, 

Anna