Today was a fairly decent day as a principal. I facilitated a circle in a senior English class, where the majority of students weren’t passing and ergo putting their chances of graduating at risk. It seems so pointless to come that far in your schooling and then just check out. “Joyful Apathy” one of the students told me, when asked what he was feeling. He said it resignedly. And I wonder how many of them are affected by the current state of affairs. A few said it didn’t matter. There wasn’t anything much to look forward too. Though one did like the idea of being able to get a cat when they moved out of their parent’s house.

There has been a darkened mood this year, not glaringly so, but hiding and swishing about at the baseboards. A meanness, and unhappiness. I know that to some degree it is due to the amount of change that has occurred at the school, mostly, I believe, for the better. But, for teenagers, any change is terrible. It’s almost as bad as no change at all. I can remember as a teacher having students complain that we did the same thing every day in class and it was boring, and when you changed it up, they complained that we should stick to what we always do. I once had a student complain because I gave them a mental health day where they were free to nap, draw, listen to music, catch-up on work, whatever they wanted. Nope. Not having it.

But I digress. Back to the circle. I really enjoy the circle process, and I think I am getting better at it. At least, I hope so. I liked being in the classroom too. I want us to be doing more of these classroom circles. A lot of this year has been setting up; well, stripping down, then setting up, in fairness, and it is only now that I feel we are walking on more sturdy ground. The school year moves like a flash. In the first semester, it seems you’re just trying to keep your head above water and not burn out. Second semester is more even keel but you are playing catch up on stuff you may have let float by in the first semester. And it all starts over again in the Fall.

Simplistic, I know. I do that sometimes. Make things too simple and miss some of the nuance. It’s how my brain deals with knowledge. Give me the complex, the complicated, the intricate, and it’s not until I can put it into basic language, that I can grasp it. I listen along and think, man, I do not understand a word coming at me at the moment, and then something clicks and I say, “oh, you mean this?” and it’s yes, yes, that is exactly what I am saying/writing/painting/gesturing etc. And yet, my partner is almost the complete opposite. I will say something that I believe to be quite simple to understand and he will look at me as if I am made sphinx in front of him. It is only in giving him the intricacies in ever increasing complexity that he is able to parcel the first statement. I used to think he was only messing with me, but now, I think he needs it to be nuanced and complex to even begin to comprehend it. Though, I am probably being over simplistic about this, in fairness.

But, I digress, again.  Though, this is the nature of the circle – to begin in one place, travel out a ways, and then back to where we began. There is in poetry a circular structure that can be used.  The poem begins in one spot, works away, then back again to that spot. There are more formal forms and patterns such as the Rondeau and the Pantoum, and we shall get to those. But for today, let’s stay with the simple idea of the Circular Structure.  Start in one place, move out and around, then back again to where you began, whether in words or in place. Alright, so here’s an example of mine, I look forward to seeing some of yours!

         

               Stormy Wonderings

She tumbled through her thoughts
Fumbling down lonely pathways
She threw back her head and
Stopped.
Lighting thundered her to sleep
Torturing the night in her absence
Thrusting its tyranny on the trees.
The trees trembled yet weathered
The tempest. A tantrum thrown, is all.
She woke to a tantalizing stillness
A truth taught only at dawn.
Tacitly telling tangerine sunrays
Whispering, softly to trust.
Today tommorrows in no time
Untangle your tone from intent.
She trembled back up to her front lobe
And decided to stay there in bed.