Hello! I’m Dexta Jean writing from the foothills of the Ozark Mountains in Arkansas. I believe I have participated since 2014. I will be exploring the topic of substitute teaching in America and using variations of haiku. The state of contemporary public schooling has been eye-opening to me, who never attended public school until I was a junior in college. I did, however, raise four sons in the public schools. I anticipate some of the poems will be about school shootings. I was subbing on the day of the Uvalde shooting. Even though I was 700 miles away and one state over – also a state very attached to gun-ownership – I hurt for the reality of fear we have created. I lament lost childhood.
I found one of your poems by the random poem generator. I am a retired teacher from Colorado with way too many school shootings close to me including one across the street from our school. I will be reading your work here. I am new to painting and this marathon, I only do the half, I painting each hour as well as writing and every poem is inked or painted onto the canvas layers. Thank you for bringing art as a healing force into the world.