April is national poetry month. Today is the last day of April, national poetry month. I chose this poem, “Filling Station,” by Elizabeth Bishop, to be my last poem of the month. There is beauty in everything, even the ugliest places, and this virtuosic little gem is a reminder that, no matter how plain or […]
April is national poetry month. April is drawing to a close. Just another week to go! Here’s another often-anthologized poem you might remember from your old high school lit book, “Miniver Cheevy.” Miniver Cheevy Miniver Cheevy, child of scorn, Grew lean while he assailed the seasons; He wept that he was ever born, […]
April is national poetry month. This is my favorite poem by Emily Dickinson, and my class reads it at least once, regardless of what course I am teaching. We’ve read it in the seventh grade, eighth grade, eleventh grade, twelfth grade, creative writing, mythology, whatever. If I’m teaching, we’re going to be reading this […]
April is national poetry month. This weekend, I slid down a hill with my son, which was incredible fun. You can see it here. And it got me thinking of that old poem by Robert Burns, where he says, John Anderson, my jo, John, We clamb the hill thegither; And mony a cantie day, John, […]
April is national poetry month. * My mind works quickly and well these days and I like the look of myself of late: a little more meat around the face, a little more bite at the back of the lungs, a little more point to the tip of the tongue– no wonder I’ve been smiling […]
My students are getting ready for their end-of-course exams. Do you know what it takes to pass? It is April, which means students all around Tennessee are getting ready to take their state-administered end-of-course exams. If you are of a certain age, or went to a private high school, you probably don’t understand what that […]
April is national poetry month. Not much to say about today’s poem, just that it has been a favorite of mine for years and years. The Lake Isle of Innisfree I will arise and go now, and go to Innisfree, And a small cabin build there, of clay and wattles mad: Nine bean-rows will I […]
April is national poetry month. I wanted to go old school for today’s poem, and you can’t get much more old school than Sappho. Not much is known about Sappho, but it is believed that she lived in the seventh and sixth century B.C. in Mitylene, on the island of Lesbos. She was the leader […]
April is national poetry month. I have posted this poem, “Forgiving Buckner” by John Hodgen, on my blog before, but today is opening day and we all have baseball on the brain. I think it deserves another look. Forgiving Buckner The world is always rolling between our legs. It comes for us, dribbler, slow roller, […]
April is national poetry month. Today’s poem is “Travel,” by Edna St. Vincent Millay. My ninth grade textbook had a unit on Millay, which included a large print of this famous photograph of the poet. Now, I went to an all-boys high school where I felt forgotten among the jocks and popular kids, and I […]