For a variety of reasons, I left my long teaching career last year and now hold a new post in a museum. Adjusting to being 'the new girl' in my mid-fifties is not easy!
Help!
Unsure
Floundering
Seeking new skills
Confidence shattered
Clumsy fingers bash till
Until it deigns to open
Years of confidence eroded
Tumbling down through the status strata
My teacher badge replaced by dogs-body
Like a marionette, I dance and twitch
Listen hard yet fail to catch the tune
My befuddled brain is baffled
Sharp words wound; disdain destroys
Slow to learn new rhythms
Mistakes multiply
Aplomb absent
My courage
Rises
Up
6/2/2026
Thank you Katharine! I’ll get there. 😀
6/2/2026
Ohh, NOTHING makes a person feel less competent overall than a new job. OYYY!! SO much to learn, SO much about which one has absolutely no idea!! Definitely not an undertaking for sissies. Thankfully, YOU ARE NOT A SISSY!! You are a BULLDOZER, and you will get to where you need to be in record time. Mark my words on that!! Show 'em what you're made of, Woman! I'm here on the sidelines rooting for you. xoxoxo
6/2/2026
Thanks Rachelle- I’ll get there! 😀 Nothing if not stubborn and determined!
6/3/2026
The Words That Got to Me
"Tumbling down through the status strata" That's a clever use of language to capture the feeling of an uncontrolled drop in status. "My teacher badge replaced by dogs-body" It's specific, relatable, and contains a touch of humour alongside the hurt.
Suggestions / Possible Tweaks
"Aplomb absent" works mechanically, but feels a little more abstract than the wonderful imagery elsewhere.
The double nonnet form suits this poem so well. It captures the fall and rise of this personal journey. The opening carries the weight of so many changing careers later in life, while the second half brings about the resilient stubbornness born of experience at overcoming obstacles. It would have been very easy to have this poem descend almost into self-pity; instead, you leave me with a sense of hope and an understanding of your confidence and determination to succeed.
6/3/2026
Thank you Tim.
6/2/2026
The Words That Got to Me
My courage Rises Up and THAT is the important thing
Oh, Rachel, you're smart. You'll learn quickly. You have interest or you wouldn't have applied. and one thing I've learned, having reached an age where remembering things is iffy at best, you are young and will remember the things you learn and do fine. Your poem expresses your concern in desperate tone--are there really sharp words used against you there? I'm sure you will catch on quickly to spite them! Anyway, your poem is clever and fun to read, as I sit here not under pressure, like you are. Good luck to you. I hope you get to love it soon.