A Portrait Poem

Today in Writer's Workshop the students started writing Portrait Poems. They're following a specific format, where you start one line with "I am..." and then go on to "I wonder..." and "I hear...", etc. I decided to write one (in the spirit of solidarity), and this is what I came up with. I promptly labeled it my "non-teacherly version" and flipped the page over to write another. Here's the non-teacherly (and therefore more all-around descriptive) one.

I AM Poem

I am exhausted yet full of grit.
I wonder if I could ever get enough sleep.
I hear the tick-tick-ticking of my life.
I see people stacked in corners, waiting.
I want time to slow down.
I am exhausted yet full of grit.

I pretend to love the body I walk in.
I feel whispery touches of ghosts as they pass.
I touch the walls of every room I enter.
I worry about finding the door out.
I cry when I have nothing left to give.
I am exhausted yet full of grit.

I understand that all people can change.
I say that peace begins anew with every moment.
I dream about the touch of my babies.
I try to keep the peace.
I hope happiness can still find us all.
I am exhausted yet full of grit.