Self

I love, love, love reading my fiction students’ end-of-semester self evaluations. So great seeing them think critically about what they’ve accomplished so far, and where they’re planning to take their work next. It’s like a delightful little dessert at the end of a long, satisfying meal.

1 thought on “Self”

  1. Unrelated, but here is a poem I adore. Thought you might like it too.

    “The Elephant is Slow to Mate”

    The elephant, the huge old beast,
    is slow to mate;
    he finds a female, they show no haste
    they wait

    for the sympathy in their vast shy hearts
    slowly, slowly to rouse
    as they loiter along the river-beds
    and drink and browse

    and dash in panic through the brake
    of forest with the herd,
    and sleep in massive silence, and wake
    together, without a word.

    So slowly the great hot elephant hearts
    grow full of desire,
    and the great beasts mate in secret at last,
    hiding their fire.

    Oldest they are and the wisest of beasts
    so they know at last
    how to wait for the loneliest of feasts
    for the full repast.

    They do not snatch, they do not tear;
    their massive blood
    moves as the moon-tides, near, more near
    till they touch in flood.

    D.H. Lawrence

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