Anissa has the presence of a
Necklace or a bracelet full of
Itty bitty charms that
She has gathered
Since the day she was born
And the world became a kinder, gentler place.
clr 2011
is like mercury running everyway
avoiding capture but glistening
all the while
She tunnels her way through
2nd period, scowling and staring
at the desk, while
deciding what strategy
to NOT use
while reading Hamlet
But then
Patience beams suddenly from her
coat pocket--mostly she lets it shine
out when she is at the hospital.
clr2011
So many days have passed
since you left Somalia.
Somalia, however, has never left you.
Its respectful gratitude for
freedom and family
has followed close at your heels
And although you, ninja-like
transport yourself from one place
to another, your presence is
felt always.
In peace, or sadness,
I'm not sure which.
clr 2011
When she 'battens down' the hatches
on her very tall ship,
KJ gets down to business.
Her intellect is without humor and
it has not time for silliness.
But her spirit much time reserves
for matters of the heart and
of the social nature.
Her serious side wrestles with her silly, girlish ways
and as they battle,
there is
a teacher giving her the
stink eye
and the serious KJ will win.
clr 2011
Your name is Frank
I know it is,
I see it in your eyes.
Your heart is Frank,
I know it is,
I hear it in your cries.
Your hardened heart and trifiling trust
your knees that 'jiggle jiggle'
all these clues add up to you, and they say
your name is Frank
9/10/10
underneath the cascade of golden
curls, lives a tormented lover of all.
Believing 'must' and 'should' she
precariously tries not to fall.
A wider river does not exist than Haley's
smile which warms the babbling brook that is
her heart.
Mother Nature calls Haley hers
but there is nothing that deters
the
grimacing, growling world of competition
from eating her alive.
Underneath the lively, bouncing locks
lies a girl putting up her stumbling blocks.
with only the perfect whisper she currently
cannot hear, as her intervention, her far,
and her near.
Haley will far exceed her goals
and wonder if that's all she wants.
2011
Ok that is a weird start. My intention here is to share all of the poems I wrote about students over the past 20 years in the classroom that I felt really captured their essence.
Over the years, I have felt, rightly or not, that I know my students very well. I am honored when I read their essays or poems, or anything where their voice comes through. I feel it is similar to asking for a rock from Paris rather than a T-shirt.
I don't want gifts when friends and family travel, what I really want is a rock from their trip. I want them to be in a beautiful place, think of me, and pick up a rock from underfoot. Then I feel as if I was there.
similarly,
I want the students to give me something genuine from themselves, and that's what I wanted the most---more important to me on a human level than a formulaic essay or straight A work. It was the rocks my students brought me that helped me know them and celebrate them. And to me, that is the most important part of my work as an English teacher.
And in this blog, I will share my students with you.