About this Episode
In this episode, I was joined by Zach Wheatley. He is a friend, the son of a friend and the nephew of a friend…all at the same time. Zach just started his M.Ed program in school counseling at Utah Valley University. He also coaches football and lacrosse at Viewmont High School in Bountiful, Utah. And on top of all of that, he works as a Teen Center Coordinator in the newly established Teen Center Program at Viewmont High School which provides him an opportunity to support students who are lacking basic needs.
On it’s website, www.daviseducationfoundation.org, the Teen Center Program is described as
a supportive facility within a high school that provides resources and assistance to help students overcome barriers to learning. Teen Centers offer a space where students can access basic necessities, academic support and guidance, that help them thrive in both their academic and personal lives.
Zach and I discussed his work at the Teen Center in light of a couple of my poems, “Dark Canopy” and “Moab”:
DARK CANOPY
Hopelessness covers me:
Like a forest canopy
On a moonless night
It covers me.
I see no way or path
To deliver myself.
And the darkness:
It fills my eyes.
And they are unable to see
The torchlight
Of rescuers who may approach.
All is black and dead.
Every gleam is only a phantom.
And the only variations in light
Are darker shadows
Waiting to finish me off
For good.
MOAB
This land,
wounded and scarred and full of shadows,
She turns his face to Her
To see
and he sees
Her stillness and Her beauty
And he understands
What can be.
I'd love to hear what you have to say about the episode including thoughts on the poetry and the topics that were discussed. You can email me at [email protected].
My first book of poetry, My Mother Sleeps, is availabe for purchase at
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