Weekend Coffee Share Poem with Kim Johnson, April 2, 2024

If we were having coffee, I’d have tea, a nice London Fog latte with oat milk or a sweet and spicy masala chai. (But, I understand that most people prefer coffee, so I still say, “Let’s go out for coffee,” like I call tissue Kleenex.)

If we were having coffee, I’d tell you about February 26, 2020, when the government shut down schools because a bus driver in Bahrain had Covid-19 and dropped off children at three different schools the day before.

I’d tell you that I started writing in March with the Slice of Life story challenge, and then on into April with this group of poets. I’d tell you that poetry and this community filled my sails during those following months of isolation, fear of the unknown, and virtual teaching. And then I’d smile and remember that this community has been filling my sails ever since.

I’d ask you about your story of writing. What sustains and keeps you on this journey? Then we would laugh and read poems to each, our favorites that we have written and our favorites that others have written deep within us.

I’d also have to tell you that I normally drink tea in my jammies, and the photo my husband snapped is me ready to go out the door on an out-of-town adventure.