This is the Open Write, a place for educators to nurture their writing lives and to advocate for writing poetry in community. We gather every month and daily in April — no sign-ups, no fees, no commitments. Come and go as you please. All that we ask is that if you write, you respond to others to mirror to them your readerly experiences — beautiful lines, phrases that resonate, ideas stirred. Enjoy. (Learn more here.)
Our Host
Stacey L. Joy is a National Board Certified Teacher, Google Certified Educator, L.A. County and LAUSD Teacher of the Year. This is Stacey’s 40th and final year of elementary classroom teaching. She currently teaches 5th grade at Baldwin Hills Gifted Magnet and Pilot School. Stacey is a poet at heart with one self-published book and several poems published in various anthologies.
Inspiration
Alex Elle is an author whose writing I fell in love with during the pandemic. Read this beautiful short essay or listen to her read Honoring Grief and Joy. I felt as if she invited me to spend time with both my grief and my joy.
Process
Think about two emotions you want to spend time with or invite to your table. Honor your emotions the way you would honor a loved one. Lean in and trust whatever you feel. Explore Brené Brown’s Atlas of the Heart List of Emotions to narrow down some ideas. You might want to write a letter to your emotion (epistle), a lyric poem, or a haiku sonnet. Consider comparing and contrasting two emotions as they spend time with you.
I used Alex Elle’s phrase: “…joy may grow quiet, but it’s always humming softly in the background” to craft my Golden Shovel poem. If you choose to write a Golden Shovel, you can pull your strike line directly from Alex’s essay. Remember, you are free to write whatever and however your heart desires.
Stacey’s Poem
In The Quiet of Joy
“…joy may grow quiet, but it’s always humming softly in the background”
I long to live in the quiet of joy
cradled gently in its arms where peace may
blossom and thrive; where kindness may grow
and permeate the world. In the quiet
of joy, smiles linger like the sky but
sadness sidles away, it’s
fleeting like dust in sunrays. The quiet of joy always
comforts me like my Nana’s humming
or like Mommie’s nurturing arms softly
holding me, rocking me in
memories of her love. I long to live where joy is the
noise, the laughter, and the quiet in the background
© Stacey L. Joy, 9/28/25
Your Turn
Now, scroll to the comment section below to write your own poem. (This is a public space, so you may choose to use only your first name or initials depending on your privacy preferences.) Not ready? That’s okay. Read the poems already posted for more inspiration. Ponder your own throughout the day. Return later. And, if the prompt does not work for you, that is fine. All writing is welcome. Just write something. Oh, and a note about drafting: Since we are writing in short bursts, we all understand (and even welcome) the typos and partial poems that remind us we are human and that writing is always becoming. If you’d like to invite other teachers to write with us, tell them to subscribe. Also, please be sure to respond to at least three writers.