January 21, 2026
40th Anniversary
By: Jay Harding
Open space.
Alone through the years,
only spelling tests to avoid.
My words like dodge balls,
the response like rubber bands.
Alone through the years,
only spelling tests to avoid.
My words like dodge balls,
the response like rubber bands.
Oh, don’t say it again, please—
“Sit still!”
“Sit still!”
I want to run on the African plains
as fast as a cheetah,
leaping, chasing others.
My vision compels me to see:
the air,
the sound,
the end.
leaping, chasing others.
My vision compels me to see:
the air,
the sound,
the end.
No justice,
someone else’s clothes,
no shoelaces.
someone else’s clothes,
no shoelaces.
Cramped in a long hallway.
Smiles waiting, patiently.
Encouraged by a Barb,
I walk forward.
I walk forward.
Unit restriction,
Crowded through dinner.
Turkey with potatoes.
Crowded through dinner.
Turkey with potatoes.
My hunger—looking for a home—
my food abandoned.
Two Bobs and a Jennifer, sitting.
TV, dusty, unplugged.
I want to cartwheel in a square
and do a flip flop correctly this time.
A new bed.
A roommate.
Ancient symbols
drawn on the cork board.
A roommate.
Ancient symbols
drawn on the cork board.
Low light.
“Sit Still!”
“Sit Still!”
I want to be loud,
singing my thoughts
down the tunnel
where the other rooms exist.
singing my thoughts
down the tunnel
where the other rooms exist.
The white room is empty.
The ushers usher me.
The white room now occupied.
The white room now occupied.
Friends through the years
appear on the wall.
I want to hug the wall
and be loved.
and be loved.
It is cold—
my arms out flat,
face pressed.
my arms out flat,
face pressed.
I wish I had my shoelaces.
I try a cartwheel.
I try a cartwheel.
The door yells—
“Sit Still!”
“Sit Still!”
The Writing Salon, facilitated by Jayda Delatorre, exemplifies the mission of the Adler Arts Center by creating space for creativity, interpretation, and meaningful discussion. As I listen to prose and poetry during each session, music and color swirl in my mind, and I lose myself in the experience.
Through Jayda’s feedback and encouragement, I began writing poetry – something I never expected to do. And then—bam!—just when I thought there was nothing new left to discover, poetry broke through my mid-life malaise.
I wrote the submitted poem during the November Writing Salon on the 40th anniversary of my three-month stay in a hospital as a teenager. The piece is an interpretation of my first night there and my early attempts to cope with the struggles I faced.
40th Anniversary honors Adler Arts Center’s mission by transforming a difficult personal memory into art.
