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center for writing | minnesota writing project | mwp invitational summer institute | institute fellows 2016

Deanna Perchyshyn

©2016

Best Summer Ever

Will you make it?
Can you stay?  
The journey begins
Along the way

Different backgrounds
Different styles
Some travel great distances
Others a few miles

What can I give that you will need?
What can you say that I will heed?
So much wisdom, so much love
We seem to fit, like an old glove

We talk of Bernie and Hillary too,
Trump is not popular,
With these chosen few.

Our morning sun
Turns to evening rain.
Emily makes a fire,
Some gather, some abstain.

A gift from Joyce
Unexpected and fine
The smell of vino
Heavenly, divine.

Back in the city, we find our groove.
Stories to prepare,
It’s time to move.

Carleen has married
In the space between,
Others move or travel
What else have we seen?

What is the backdrop for this precious summer trip?
A disheartened society, full of facebook clips
Showing the pain of a simple traffic stop,
That turns to death at the hands of a cop.

And how can we change that?

Muriel’s wisdom provides
The shelter in which to confide  
Kirsten and Terri are loyal guides
Stephanie’s baby is along for the ride.  

We gel together and speak of gates
The gates we keep and how to widen
The academic doorway, so everyone can find
A place to sit and expand their mind.

Education is always a start
To practice kindness and do our part
We can’t fix it but we can help
By teaching tolerance from the heart

Fabulous Five, this poem’s about you
For all you think and all you do
Mariam, Erin, Emily, and Sue
I thank you for listening under skies of blue

You’ve shared so much with your pages
I learn and absorb
Because you are sages

I’d love to write about everyone by name
Through your presence, I’ll never be the same
But there is never time to say and do, all the things I’d like
to . . . . .