http://www.poetryfoundation.org/harriet/2007/04/156/ A blog from the Poetry Foundation where contemporary poets debate classic and contemporary poetry from America and around the world. Fri, 12 Mar 2010 00:59:01 -0600 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.4 hourly 1 http://www.poetryfoundation.org/harriet/2007/04/156/#comment-286 dwayne Mon, 30 Apr 2007 21:52:45 +0000 http://pf/harriet/?p=156#comment-286 kwame, this is interesting. the students in the class i work in, they cuss just because it is part of their everyday language. and, outside of just telling them what to say and what not to say, i had to figure out how to convince them that certain language wasn't necessary, right. so i say my piece, thinking that since i dont curse in poems they should work on getting their point across with as little profanity as possible. then i wanted to do your poem skin. and since i have it on tape i wanted them to hear you read it. i had to approach the teacher because the language was a sensitive issue up until that point. it had been held to a simmer because the class has only thirteen students... but i still didnt know how to approach your poem. i just told the teacher what was going on and she was like fine. actually your poem ended up being an example of how sometimes, certain language fits. and since i also got to teach them about all the allusions you made in the poem, things they didnt see and i really didnt see until i had to teach the poem, the teacher was happy. the poems they wrote from that were all good, all lacking anything that would get someone fired. but, and i guess this is where i agree with you. some of my students, love them though i do, they crave the opportunity to figure im the cool young poet cat and their teacher is the lame, take this test, i'll give you an E in this class bad guy. so i see the problem. i also know that i'm only there one day a week. i'd really like to know how people who work in schools deal with the leaving. im in one school where my class hasn't had an english teacher in three months. im talking sub after sub after sub. and these kids know things about stuff i was dreaming of in the seventh grade, but their work is awesome. and i wonder, how the poet deals with knowing that what he's doing is only a drop in the bucket. like you see these cats pulling all this weight, and your only advice, really, when it comes down to it, is "hey young brother, young sister, before you throw the world on your shoulder, bend at the knees so you don't throw out your back." it's just wierd wondering, ultimately, what is the lasting impact of coming in a classroom for such short periods of time. it's cool though. im enjoying it, and i hope my advice about bending at the knees helps them. even if, you know if i had to admit it, on most days i know they help me more than i pretend to help them. dwayne kwame,
this is interesting. the students in the class i work in, they cuss just because it is part of their everyday language. and, outside of just telling them what to say and what not to say, i had to figure out how to convince them that certain language wasn’t necessary, right. so i say my piece, thinking that since i dont curse in poems they should work on getting their point across with as little profanity as possible. then i wanted to do your poem skin. and since i have it on tape i wanted them to hear you read it.
i had to approach the teacher because the language was a sensitive issue up until that point. it had been held to a simmer because the class has only thirteen students… but i still didnt know how to approach your poem. i just told the teacher what was going on and she was like fine. actually your poem ended up being an example of how sometimes, certain language fits. and since i also got to teach them about all the allusions you made in the poem, things they didnt see and i really didnt see until i had to teach the poem, the teacher was happy. the poems they wrote from that were all good, all lacking anything that would get someone fired.
but, and i guess this is where i agree with you. some of my students, love them though i do, they crave the opportunity to figure im the cool young poet cat and their teacher is the lame, take this test, i’ll give you an E in this class bad guy. so i see the problem. i also know that i’m only there one day a week.
i’d really like to know how people who work in schools deal with the leaving. im in one school where my class hasn’t had an english teacher in three months. im talking sub after sub after sub. and these kids know things about stuff i was dreaming of in the seventh grade, but their work is awesome. and i wonder, how the poet deals with knowing that what he’s doing is only a drop in the bucket. like you see these cats pulling all this weight, and your only advice, really, when it comes down to it, is “hey young brother, young sister, before you throw the world on your shoulder, bend at the knees so you don’t throw out your back.”
it’s just wierd wondering, ultimately, what is the lasting impact of coming in a classroom for such short periods of time.
it’s cool though. im enjoying it, and i hope my advice about bending at the knees helps them. even if, you know if i had to admit it, on most days i know they help me more than i pretend to help them.
dwayne

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