Author Archives: Lisa Chesser

Keep Your Head in the Clouds

Oh, look at that! It’s a panda. You see it? There’s a ship. Look look look. Where? Right there, follow my finger. You see it? No. Well sort of. Ooowa! That one’s weird. I think it’s an old man. He’s smiling. See? Yeah! I see it… I lied. I saw nothing. Really. Just nothing. ItContinueContinue reading “Keep Your Head in the Clouds”

Religion is in the details.

At the end of the first week back to school in Florida, I stood in a line with moms beaten, worried, and tired. We were from everywhere in Miami. We wore business clothes, jeans, and sweatpants. The “perfect” mom with the straight, red hair, black V-neck sweater, and pencil skirt raised her eyebrows as theContinueContinue reading “Religion is in the details.”

Everyone should have to teach middle school.

The uncertainty and shock of feeling as if I’d entered a distorted dimension, splintered and shapeshifting, grew into a full-time stint as a middle school teacher. Everyone should have to teach middle school. I’ve said this ever since I realized I wasn’t going to quit teaching after all, ever since I got through those first fewContinueContinue reading “Everyone should have to teach middle school.”

DP Challenge, Snapshots: Spears for Eyes

Her eyes bit into hers and, what a shame, since love often resided there. Brown spears sprung from a deep darkness pooled into circular rounds, cushioned only by a sense of humanity. To blink would’ve meant she’d lose her stance, her power. A black ring outlined the severity of her response to her mother whoContinueContinue reading “DP Challenge, Snapshots: Spears for Eyes”

What do you think when The President visits your city?

President Obama visited and I thought, okay, I’m just too tired to think much about it. I wish I had more energy. But because I teach middle schoolers and work until I can’t stand anymore, I couldn’t feel the excitement I’d normally feel when The President visits our city. How do you react when The PresidentContinueContinue reading “What do you think when The President visits your city?”

I Remember My Dream

Digging graves, unconsciously, just digging. Scaring everyone. Dreams…well…they change. They morph into something scientific, to be dissected or picked apart. Between disillusionment and the idea that you needed to be more than what you should be or than what you really wanted. You don’t really dig graves. You dream, like every single one of us.ContinueContinue reading “I Remember My Dream”

The Evolution before the Revolution

Those sinewy blue beings link arms and chant, rocking in unison for love, Avatars who sync into the power of the earth while the “smarter,” more intelligent beings exploit them. I think of this often. I thought of this when I saw the new J.J. Abrams series Revolution. For those of you who don’t knowContinueContinue reading “The Evolution before the Revolution”

NOT Madonna

Jaw dropping just doesn’t do it justice. When the image of Miley Cyrus wearing almost nothing, bent over on a stage flashed on my computer screen, I just thought, “Whatever, here we go again.” But, to all the girls who grew up watching her make exaggerated gestures in response to a weekly dilemma on herContinueContinue reading “NOT Madonna”