Tag Archives: poem

#158: Shopping for Records on the Anniversary of Paul Revere’s Ride

On the 240th anniversary of Paul Revere’s ride, I ride to Music Millennium for Record Store Day. I wait in line for an hour to get inside and while I wait I see a former student of mine whose friend (just along for the journey) is offered $100 by some dude with an ankle injury toContinue reading “#158: Shopping for Records on the Anniversary of Paul Revere’s Ride”

#156: The Desire to Write a Terzanelle

The desire to write a terzanelle runs smack dab up against too much shit to do as well. I don’t want to feel incensed, about constantly fighting time, running smack dab up against the incessant daily grind and all of my complaining about constantly fighting time. The afternoon is waning and pretty soon it will be darkContinue reading “#156: The Desire to Write a Terzanelle”

#154: A Dialogue?

Student: This class sucks. It’s boring. All we do in here is read and write and talk. And I have no idea why I’m failing. I can’t find my pencil. Could I borrow a piece of paper? When can we watch a movie? Oh my god, I just got a text and I have toContinue reading “#154: A Dialogue?”

#151: Mistakes Are Made

Publishing on the fly is like this: I make premature postings, find typographical errors, inappropriate emoji, or worse, one or two times I’ve accidentally liked myself. While attempting a poem with my phone, mistakes are made and become immediately public– my dumb ass on display for the whole world, or, at least, the tiny fraction of it that’s actuallyContinue reading “#151: Mistakes Are Made”

#145: Flying by the Seat of My Pants

Flying by the Seat of My Pants It’s Easter, and I’m flying by the seat of my pants, winging it, making it up as I go along, which is, really, what I’ve been doing all along, each day, each moment: flying by the seat of my pants. Bonus Commentary:  I improvised this silly little poemContinue reading “#145: Flying by the Seat of My Pants”

#140: I Was Raised By. . .

Another mentor text, this time the one we used with our freshmen, to inspire poetry about who or what we credit for “raising” us.  The wonderful thing about using a mentor text, learning explicitly the moves of a writer we admire, is that all the 14 year olds end up writing these lively, effective poems.Continue reading “#140: I Was Raised By. . .”

#139: Another Random Autobiography

We’re kicking off the school year by introducing to students this lovely thing we call a “mentor text.”  We look closely at a piece of good writing, observe its various moves and strategies, and then write our own piece of good writing inspired by the mentor text, mimicking as best we can the moves ofContinue reading “#139: Another Random Autobiography”

#139: Writer’s Camp

I’m going to camp. I’ll be alone most of the time but at breakfast, lunch, and dinner, and at least once every evening, I will be surrounded by friends, writer friends, people who know me and who share the dream and the drive or the dream of the drive or the drive of the dreamContinue reading “#139: Writer’s Camp”

#138: A New Stupid Smart Phone

1. Stupid, perhaps.  But I bought a new iPhone today because my wallet case broke, you know the one, the wallet case I bought two years ago to hold my i.d., some cash, and a 3G phone I bought for $50 that was already two years out of date. The old phone was fine, still,Continue reading “#138: A New Stupid Smart Phone”