Posted on by kimhaynesjohnson

No, Thank You

This month, I’m writing posts from prompts in the Writing Down the Bones Card Deck by Natalie Goldberg, shared with me by my friend Barb Edler of Iowa. Goldberg asks us to begin by writing, “No, Thank You…” and to keep going. And each time we get stuck, to return to those words and keep going. Today, I share a Nonet – a poem consisting of nine lines with that number of syllables on each line in ascending or descending order.

No, Thank You Nonet

no thank you to the constant going

I’m ready to have a weekend

when I can just stay at home

and bask in no deadlines

rest the day away

watch a movie

read a book

walk the

dogs

I’m honored to share a weekly feature with Ethicalela.com’s readers this week as students across the nation return to school. Here is a first-day activity that aims to build connections and strengthen relationships so that learning can thrive in the classroom. Cheers to all teachers who know the fine art of getting their arms around their students and teaching humans – not standards, not curriculum. You’re the real difference-makers in a world that often tries to convince us otherwise. This morning, I raise my mug of coffee to you as you go out into the most fertile fields of all to plant seeds and make change. You, my friend, are a change maker.

8 Replies to “No, Thank You”

  2. Mim,

    I really like the No Thank You prompt. and turning it into a money is a fun twist. That prompt is one that will save me on days I struggle to find a poem in my mind. Yes to teaching curriculum and not standards. Some things in education are so off the rails.

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  4. Love your poem and its passionate need for some time to process the road ahead while breathing in these last moments before the fall season, if not weather, rules time.

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