John S. O'Connor

Users of Word Magic, Makers of Poems

I’m always stealing ideas from other poets to bring to my classes. This summer I read a very interesting poem by Anna McDonald originally published in The Paris Review. The poem, called “Possible Titles for His Plaque” is a clever riff on the Homeric convention of using tags for characters. Just as Homer calls the Trojans “breakers of horses,” McDonald’s speaker talks in mock heroic phrases such as “eater of pork rinds” and “pisser off of porches.” It’s funny and a little disturbing.

For my purposes as a classroom teacher, though, the poem is perfect: it’s a tight form that all students can duplicate and it has great use as a model for students writing autobiography (what are possible titles for their own plaques?), for understanding a novel they are studying (think of Holden: wearer of a red cap, mourner of a younger brother, savior of imaginary children, cleanser of the word “fuck”, etc.) or a historical or literary character outside of class.

Here is what a student named Alison did with a character from a graphic novel:

DC Comics: Harley Quinn’s Rap Sheet

Guilt-filled felon

Abandoner of her PhD

Rider of pogo sticks

Operator of deadly weapons

Speaker in a Queens accent

Singer of rusty songs

Recipient of second chances

Failure at redemption

Loud chewer of bubble gum

Juggler of dynamite

Baker of cream pies

Receiver of get-well roses

Mistress of obnoxious laughter

Schemer of punchlines

Resident of a fun house

Patient in a mad house

Occasional wearer of pink dresses and rollerskates

Masquerader behind a bubbly innocence

Poster girl for Gotham City psychopaths

___________________________________________________________

And here’s Marie’s poem about a friend of hers:

Former Taco Bell Employee

former champion eater of cheesy gordita crunches

former all-time most disgruntled Taco Bell employee

faker of vegetarianism and dire heart conditions

owner of an extensive dream catcher collection

stealer of debate team trophies,

snatcher of children’s scooters from neighboring front lawns

possessor of biggest glasses, curliest hair

burner down of junior high bathrooms

photographer of roadkill

heckler of pre-teens and other defenseless schmucks

putter of trash in mailboxes

flip offer of the school principal

do-er of all things people despise.

10.19.09 PERMALINK | COMMENTS (6)

John S. O'Connor

The Tree Inside My Head

Several years ago, around Halloween, I was informed of a sickening and racist story while leading a workshop at an affluent, mostly white, local high school. As part of a writing exercise on persona, I asked students what costumes they planned on wearing for Halloween. The class laughed nervously and all eyes turned to Robert. “What’s so funny?” I asked. Robert explained he had been suspended for two weeks the previous year for the costume he wore. “What could be so bad?” I asked.

“I went as a Mexican,” Robert said, with no apparent remorse.

“What does that mean? I asked. How could you dress ‘as a Mexican’?”

10.16.09 PERMALINK | COMMENTS (20)

Ada Limón

Mystery & Birds: 5 Ways to Practice Poetry

Joshua Marie Wilkinson is putting together a group of micro-essay for teaching poetry to beginning writers. Though I’m not really a teacher, he asked me nonetheless. And since I have so many dear dear friends beginning their semesters this week, this goes out to them. Thanks JMW for inviting me to participate.
Mystery & Birds: 5 Ways to Practice Poetry
Because I work outside of the academic field, I don’t get the
opportunity to teach very often, but when I do, I’m surprised by how
many people read poems as if they can have only one meaning. In my own
experience, I find it nearly impossible to hear the beauty and
meditative joy of a poem’s lines, or the sensual sounds of a syllable,
when I’m reading solely for narrative sense. So, I’ve come to think
that one of the first things to learn about poetry is to simply relax
in its mystery. We need to learn that a poem can have many meanings
and that it can be enjoyed without a complete understanding of the
poet’s intent. On a good day a poem might bring you great joy, on a
tough day, the same poem might reveal great agony, but the poem hasn’t
changed—it’s what you have brought to the poem that has changed. The
more you read a poem, the more time you spend with it, read it out
loud to yourself or to others, the more it will open to you—start to
wink and flirt and let you in. A poem is a complex living thing, its
multiple edges and many colors are what makes this singular art form
so difficult to define. There is an ancient Chinese Proverb that says,
“A bird sings not because he has an answer, but because he has a
song.” That is how I have come to think about poetry—that a poem isn’t
a problem to solve, but rather it’s a singular animal call that
contains multiple layers of both mystery and joy.
It’s that unique animal call that we have to carve out time for if we
really want to do the work that poetry requires. Though I admit I
struggle everyday to find the right balance between my writing
practice and the daily pressures of living, there are a few things
that help me remain true to the work of poetry. Although these may not
work for every writer, the following five points are what have kept me
writing poetry with greater ease and discipline on a daily basis.

01.13.09 PERMALINK | COMMENTS (5)