Last week I met my friend Barbara's sister. Both are writers; Barbara teaches

adults in the Concord area and her sister, Ruth, teaches boys/young adults who are

in a juvenile detention residence in Oregon.

I was fascinated by Ruth's response to one of Barbara's blogs about teaching writing.

It was an exercise she had done with with her young students. The prompt was a 5 minute list

of " places darkness hangs out " then put a verb with each noun ie "nightmares terrify"

" holes consume "

When I met Ruth we talked about her work, how powerful the writing is with these young

people. She jokingly referred to them as her "bad boys" and I knew she felt they were any

thing but. I wish there had been more time to share our stories about teaching and learning

from the amazing young folks who have graced our lives. I am certain she is having a profound

impact on these young boys. It is amazing what a difference one person can have on the universe. I hope she is proud of the work she is doing.

This is my list. Thank you Ruth for the inspiration!

words wound

dreams transport

basements swallow

alleyways swirl

closets rattle

prisons stifle

writing runs

imagination stirs

secrets muffle

silence suffocates

nightmares swoop

depression stabs

fear rustles

caves swallow

pits burn

hearts beat

minds race