Hey folks. It’s Friday of spring break for us. It’s also my first day back teaching writing. This session I’m teaching teens non-fiction writing. I need to sharpen pencils and organize my supplies. So I’ve read some poetry and decided to post one of mine instead of continuing the search for a perfect poem for you, my reader.

Again, all my poems are rough. I’ll polish this one a bit as I post it. Its from two years ago, and it’s about really seeing my daughter, who also happens to be dyslexic. Off we go.

But the Answer Isn’t in the Guidebook

While scanning my bookshelf, I see the thick

tome of a guide called Overcoming

Dyslexia. The dictionary explains

succeeding in dealing with difficulty

is admirable and necessary and

noted and easy once your daughter

accomplishes every skill

in the appendix of the

guidebook I will never read.

 

But seeing? Seeing’s not so hard. It’s what

I do every day. I see the girl

who couldn’t learn letters but hands out

phrases like “The whole world loves

you” until I wonder who the

teacher is, what the lesson could

be, and why we need to overcome

anything when clearly seeing

is everything when it comes to love.

-Nancy Schatz Alton