Poem in a Pinch

In my English classes, I am working with my students to help them write a narrative poem. One of the most important things that I emphasize to my students is that a narrative poem needs only to tell a story of some kind, not necessarily a story about some monumental moment in your life. Most of my kids feed me the "nothing has ever happened to me" line to which I have to prove that some of the greatest poems are about the most random happenings of someone's life that simply made an impact for whatever reason.

In order to prove my point that poems can be about random stuff, I allow each of my three classes to decide on a topic that I am required to write a poem about in front of the class. It's a fun activity because my students are generally amazed that I can write much of anything with 30 pairs of eyes staring at me and giggling behind my back. It's requires me to think on my feet, and I always approach it as a game which I must win because I always beat my students at everything. Always.

Today I wrote three poems. My first poem topic was muddin' (yah, I know I teach in Lavaca). My second hour class requested I write about dogs, which was super easy by the way and made a great little poem that I will present to Finny and Staley on their second birthday. My forth hour class came up with a more difficult topic. Some of my more clever boys worked really hard to think of a topic that they deemed impossible to write an entire poem about. They asked me to write about washing dishes. At first I was a little taken aback. I took about 30 seconds to brainstorm and went crazy on my poem about dish washing. As I stood in front of all of my kids, a poem just sort of fell out of me. The kids didn't even have time to make fun of the words I was writing. After the fact, I stood back and read it and realized it's probably pretty indicative of my last year of life. It's a poem that is very closely about an actual experience I once had. I thought I would share.

The scalding water ambushes the mixing bowl; overcomes my hands.
Jars me back to my new reality.
Dish washing will never be the same.
Wives wash dishes for husbands and children.
Will I always be a wife?
Ever a mother?
He does his part; dish dryer.
Crisp, clean towel squeaking across our new bowl.
Why would any two people need so many bowls?
Unopened gifts, fluffy white bows, mountains of paper;
Well-wishes for a life neither of us predicted.
Scalding turns to temperate--I turn the water off.

Needless to say, my students were a little freaked out by the poem. They had already heard about my previous classes with poems about muddin' and puppies. All of the sudden I had a poem about a huge transition in my life. It was funny to see their reaction. They all analyzed it to mean that I hate Cody and I want a divorce. I was just glad they finally read something and tried to find a meaning beyond a surface level reading. This is my first official poem to post. Get some!

I have nothing to write about...

One of the annoying things about blogging is that when I don't blog I feel a little bit guilty. It's the same way I feel when I haven't seen my grandmother in a few too many weeks. Yesterday, I found myself in Poteau listening to Norma Jean talk about rain, gas prices, and the danger in getting mugged when I go to Europe this summer. Since I visited Mamaw, I feel that I need to visit my blog too.

I have not a lot to share. I have not been in the mood to write recently. I have decided to stray away from my normal "don't write about random happenings in your life as if anyone cares" attitude and bore you with my life the past two weeks.

1. My dogs have Ehrlichiosis. Yah, I know. It's a disease transmitted by a tick. Both of my dogs randomly started to experience partial paralysis of their hind legs. Cody and I found ourselves in an Emergency Vet Clinic with a vet that didn't know what she was doing and the terrible realization that if I ever have a human child and something happens to them, I may have a heart attack. Both of my boys are better. They are recovering with some antibiotics. And no, I'm not bitter that the whole thing cost us around $700. It's not a big deal. Who's even keeping count?

2. For a few days this past week, I thought I may be pregnant. I'm not, but I had one of those "Friends" moments where I was a little bit disappointed that I am not carrying a child. I assume eventually I will have enough of these "Do I want a baby?" moments to equal enough motivation to try to have one.

3. Cody and I think we want a bigger house. I also want a bigger laundry room that doesn't attach to my garage, a kitchen island, at least 2300 square feet, a fenced yard, hardwood floors, newer construction, and location on the east side of Fort Smith. Right...

4. Spring Break was uneventful. As I caught up on sleep and read books, I thought back fondly on a time when my Spring Break was spent piercing my belly button on the beach and dancing in questionable venues. Oh college, where did you go?

That is all.

Romeo and Juliet for 9th Graders

I teach Romeo and Juliet every year. I remember hating reading the play when I was in ninth grade, but as a teacher, I can’t help but enjoy teaching it. I appreciate it that it’s about teenagers acting out such a dramatic part of life. I also appreciate that it is so sexually loaded without my kids interpreting it that way. Nonetheless, every year I have some rather interesting views from my students about Romeo and Juliet. I have my kids create a journal from the perspective of either Romeo or Juliet. I give the students 10 scenes from the play to summarize and analyze from the perspective of their character. One of the scenes that both the boys and girls have to write about is the honeymoon scene. I feel like the way in which my students write about having sex for the first time is very indicative of the roles men and women fulfill far behind 9th grade. Here are some of the best…

Funniest girl interpretations of the honeymoon:

“After we got in bed, Romeo told me he loved me. He made me feel so comfortable even though the sex part was really weird. ” At least she knows what to expect.

“Romeo and I made love with each other. It was great. Just like Allie and Noah from The Notebook.” I appreciated this response mainly because The Notebook does have a magnificent sex scene. I did have to remind the student that I don’t think The Notebook was out when Romeo and Juliet were around.

“Romeo stole my V card last night and it was awesome.” That good old V card.

“Romeo made love to me and opened my eyes and legs to a brand new world.” Clever. Yes, I did tell her to take out the legs part.

“Romeo and me had sex but it didn’t last long enough.” Preach it sister.

Funniest boy interpretations of the honeymoon:

“Last night I finally got to do it with Juliet. It was really hot.” So romantic.

“I went to Juliet’s room last night so I could finally have sex with her.” Mind you, when Romeo and Juliet have sex in the play, they have known one another for approximately two days.

“Juliet and me exchanged marital relations last night in her bed.” Awkward.

“All of the stress of the wedding was worth it because I got to sleep with Juliet all night. And no we didn’t do much sleeping.”

“I didn’t want to leave Juliet because I really liked having sex with her. And because I love her.” I like how the loving part of the equation is an afterthought even in the mind of a character in a play.

I can appreciate all of these responses. I think it’s funny how students this age generally don’t know how to correctly word a response that deals with sex. I also think it’s funny how the boys approach the task so differently than the girls. None of the boys made love to Juliet, while almost all of the girls made love with Romeo. The boys are also a lot more matter of fact about recapping the event. We had sex. It was good. Move on. The girls want to describe it and really bring the event to life. I think these approaches to sex will follow these kids far beyond 9th grade. You can tell by reading their journal entries the thoughts each kid has about sex already. You can also tell which kids have probably had an experience with sex themselves.

Once I started thinking about how telling these journals are about my students, I decided to go back and look at what I wrote when I was in the 9th grade (yes, I stole the idea for this assignment from my 9th grade teacher. I’m guilty). 14 year old Katy Schrodt had this to say about her interpretation of Juliet’s experience with sex: “We spent the most magical night in one another’s arms. As he held me close, I felt that nothing could be wrong.” When I read this, I was surprised that this was how I decided to allude to Juliet’s sexual encounter. It is much sweeter than I expected my version of sex to be as a 9th grader. It was tactful and not too revealing. It was mature and innocent. It kind of made me miss that kid. My 9th grade self who thought it was against the rules to say “sex” or “make love” in a school assignment. My 9th grade self who knew that no matter who it was having sex, it should be “magical” and “that nothing could be wrong.”

I feel really good about myself for not letting down that freshman in high school who had no idea when or with whom her first sexual experience would happen. I think over the rest of my high school years I definitely lost that “magical” interpretation of sex as I heard my friends recount their less than magical first experiences. I didn’t give in though. I didn’t let myself miss out on something right and good and magical. I didn’t let my 9th grade self miss out on how she knew sex should be. I think my 14 year old self would have been proud of my 23 year old self.

And yes, I did refer to myself in the third person in this blog. Deal with it.