my garden was in desperate need of me

All spring long I've looked outside my window despairing as the yellow weeds and the puffy weeds and the violet verticals choked my planned things in. I am a gardener. I love the things that grow. I have not been able to save my private world from the havoc of unwanted things.

Today was long; no need to list. And I still have things to do. Still, after seeing that the tree peony is already blooming without the benefit of contextual care, I literally ran from my car when I got home, threw my purse on the porch, and knelt down to tear away at the weeds.

I'm only a third done. It's ragged out there. But this is a portion of my paradise.

I need to take better care.

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Last Day: English 135.302

We came together in search of something—

words, perhaps, or stories,

a path toward or beyond.

We emerge united in our understanding of what

truth is and

why it matters.

Around a thick, old table, we sat,

we wrote,

we listened.

We will remember.

A fond farewell to my beautiful students and to a semester I will not forget.

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