My class Saturday at the Rolesville Middle School Young Writers Conference went very well. I had fun writing with seven young ladies from the sixth, seventh and eighth grades. I was worried that poetry on demand would intimidate them and I was quite wrong. They accepted my challenge, wrote beautiful poetry and everyone shared with the group. Apparently the self-judgement and inhibitions that still vex me get installed in high school.

We each wrote four poems. Here’s the poem I wrote when prompted to write a cat or dog or pet poem.

There’s a cat I know,
she wakes up every morning early
complaining of hunger.
I wish I could teach
her to use the can opener
herself because each morning
comes earlier and earlier.
It won’t be long until
I’m feeding her before
I go to bed.

Tonight I have seven poems to write on demand for them as homework! I left middle school long, long ago and somehow I still have homework due.