Self-Portrait as Don Quixote

 Hello and Happy Poetry Friday! Be sure to visit Ruth at there is no such thing as a  godforsaken town for Roundup.

Charles and I are excited to be traveling to Chicago to deliver the keynote (Monday!) at the NCTE-NCTM Joint Conference! Educators, we look forward to sharing this time with you!

This week's ArtSpeak: PICASSO features Don Quixote. I've always felt a certain kinship with Don Quixote, and perhaps Picasso did, too! Yes, I've read the book...and one of my favorite musicals from childhood was Man of La Mancha. 

And—fitting for the Poetry Friday before Father's Day AND this month's 9 year anniversary of my father's death—I shall never think of Don Quixote without thinking of my father. He was a DQ fan for sure! Papa was a dreamer, an adventurer, a lover of freedom, and a firm believer in helping those in need. He gave all those things to me, and I remain deeply grateful.

Self-Portrait as Don Quixote

by Irene Latham

Days bleed
into dream—
I cannot discern
what is real,
   what is not.
I charge forward
alone
    and not alone.
What you call
madness,
I call
    freedom!
Never before
have I kissed
such winds.