I once told Mary Lee Hahn that I loved how she managed to live her life as one long poem. (I still consider her a role model in that regard.) Now, in celebration of her retirement from 37 years of teaching and the beginning of a new "stanza" in her life, I am delighted to be able to pay tribute to her publicly.
No doubt there are hundreds of former fourth and fifth
graders who are better human beings for having experienced Ms. Hahn's
benevolent guidance in the classroom, but I'd like to speak to the impact Mary Lee has had on me and the TLD community. The first time I sang her praises was in 2014 when she was a featured guest in the Haiku Garden. Since then, she's become a friend as well as a dependable presence on Today's Little Ditty. She's contributed to numerous DMC challenges (with six poems selected for The Best of Today's Little Ditty anthologies) and has inspired readers not only with her words, but with her drive to stretch limits and make her voice heard—creatively and otherwise.
There's a song called "Pulling on a Line" that reminds me of Mary Lee whenever I hear it. It makes me think of her passion for fly fishing and her association with Casting for Recovery, but it also brings to mind the creative process that is a constant presence in her life. For me, it represents the thread of that lifelong poem that stays with Mary Lee from day to day, month to month, and year to year.
"Pulling on a Line" by Great Lake Swimmers
from the album Lost Channels
Pulling on a Line
The line runs through like a train in a book
Or metres underwater, ending with a hook
It sways in the air when there's wind enough to lift
The fine ones are boundaries when there is a rift
I'm just pulling on a line, on a line
Oh I'm just pulling on a line
I'm just pulling on a line, on a line
But sometimes it pulls on me
I'm just pulling on a line, on a line
But sometimes it pulls on me
The line, it inks across the freshly fallen snow
Where only those embracing coldness would go
In whistles and in whispers and sometimes in howls
It sings to me sweetly from trees and in vowels
I'm just pulling on a line, on a line
Oh I'm just pulling on a line
I'm just pulling on a line, on a line
But sometimes it pulls on me
The line, it writes itself across the dark sky
In the air, electric flashes ending with a sigh
It weaves itself into a fabric so true
And flows just like the river, graceful and blue
I'm just pulling on a line, on a line
Oh I'm just pulling on a line
I'm just pulling on a line, on a line
But sometimes it pulls on me
© Anthony Dekker and Great Lake Swimmers (Nettwerk Records)
Pulling a few lines from Mary Lee's reservoir of poems on Today's Little Ditty, here are three of my favorites.
rain again last night
temperatures above freezing
two cocoons wait
it's been a long, dark winter
the right moment is coming
– Mary Lee Hahn
From Margarita Engle's tanka challenge (March 2015), featured in The Best of Today's Little Ditty (2014-2015).
Peony Poem
an idea
sudden, surprising
like red peony shoots
the first color in a spring garden
a draft
leafy, bushy
too much green, but with buds
sweet enough to attract ants
a poem
lopsided, fragrant
overly showy, flamboyant, glorious
cut for a vase or for a grave
– Mary Lee Hahn
From Melissa Manlove's comparison poem challenge (May 2017), featured in The Best of Today's Little Ditty (2017-2018).
comet of crow
streaks across dark cloudy sky
contrail of bluejays
streaks across dark cloudy sky
contrail of bluejays
– Mary Lee Hahn
From Margaret Simon's #PoemsofPresence challenge (May 2020).
Best wishes for your retirement, Mary Lee,
and for many more fruitful years
of discovery, wonder, and poeming!
