Another Poem
Here is one more poem by Guri Andermann.
I love the line—“the way scarecrows are nailed up against blue skies.” While I originally interpreted this poem to be about mental break down—this time reading it, I thought about the steady decline of anything. The poem, to me, is a great companion piece to Elizabeth Bishop’s “One Art” and Anne Sexton’s “Courage.”
BREAKING DOWN
Tagged with: moments, poem, words
Poets
When I was 20, I met Guri. She probably had more influence on my young mind than any other person I have known. She introduced me to so much new. We first met as part of a poetry group—all women: Pearl Sarah Bates, Hedy Berman, Nora Stern, Guri Andermann, and me. That group produced a chapbook of poems called “Mother Mountain.” Guri and I lost touch over the years, but with the help of my website, we have reconnected, and in reconnecting with Guri, I am also reconnecting with poetry.
So it is fitting that I offer a poem here—one that Guri wrote—and one that reminds me of what a fine poet she is:
Tagged with: connection, moments, poem, words
"Aren't Us"
September 11th, 2001 has been on my mind lately. I just enrolled in a new drawing class, and so I have been looking through some of my drawing/painting exercises from past art classes, and I came upon pieces I had done in 2001, months before the horrible event. Looking at those dates—May 2001, August 2001—I could not imagine what it felt like to not know what I was about to know.
And the other day, in looking through an old textbook, searching for teaching ideas, I came upon a poem I had never read before:
Tagged with: connection, discovery, poem, truth, words
Hostage
I have been fascinated with the news of Ingrid Betancourt’s rescue from FARC, her Columbian captors. They kept her and many others in the jungle for seven years.
I watched her interview with Larry King the other night. She spoke haltingly. She apologized for her English. Something n her eyes caught me. She seemed both pained and impassioned. She looked—I don’t know how else to say it—like truth.
Tagged with: discovery, story, struggle, truth, words
Shadow
A recent obituary about the children’s book illustrator Tasha Tudor offered one of her favorite quotations:
The gloom of the world is but a shadow. Behind it, yet within our reach, is joy.
—Fra. Giovanni Giocondo
Tagged with: center, connection, quotation, struggle, truth, words
Just Call Me Donley
I recently read yet one more newspaper article that referred to Mrs. Clinton and Mr. Obama instead of addressing them both as Senator. But this part really confused me: in the same article, the reporter called Geraldine Ferraro Ms. Ferraro.
Back in the day—when Ms. came into the language, it was meant to replace Mrs. and Miss with the understanding that men had only one title—that being Mr. So, the logic went, women should also have just one title—no need to differentiate their marital status. It supposedly made men and women equal in name.
Living Room
In the living room
she sits—
In a chair,
the upholstered kind,
old-fashioned with winged arms—
a chair made for conversation
or reading.
A floor lamp illuminates her.
And next to the chair, a red walker
complete with wheels
waits to take her other places.
Tagged with: audience, poem, words
Once Upon a Time
I was pleased to watch the film called Once about an Irish street singer/vacuum cleaner repair man and a young woman who changes his luck. What a beautiful tale of intimacy, music, and friendship. It had fairy tale qualities, but its content surprised me with its unpredictable turns.
And on a different note, but still in the folk-tale-once-upon-a-time category, I happened to watch Tim Burton’s adapation of The Legend of Sleepy Hollow. I was so drawn to Ichabod’s Crane mixture of vulnerability and strength, and so wrapped up in the story’s theme of the rational as it comes to terms with the irrational.
Tagged with: construct, moments, story, truth, words
Sentences
I have assigned my students a series of four summary paragraphs. Each paragraph must introduce the author and title of the essay, identify the main idea of the essay, and then go on to detail supporting evidence.
Yesterday, students brought draft paragraphs and read them aloud to a partner. The partner then read the same paragraph back to the writer. After that, the pair chose one sentence from the paragraph to rewrite. Once each of them had rewritten a sentence, they shared their results.
Tagged with: discovery, exercises, students, words
Links
So far, there are two links to other sites on this page. I plan to add more. But I’ve been thinking about the word itself, links, and how the internet has created a valuable sense of connection for me.
If you are interested in children’s literature or baseball, check out Barbara Gregorich’s website. She and I are in a critique group together, and she has been a wonderful writing and marketing resource for me. Our group, called the Londonderries, is made up of six writers, from different cities. We meet every week online, and we meet every two years in person.
Tagged with: connection, links, why write, words
Twyla Tharp
Lately, I have been thinking about the disconnect between the process of writing and the marketing of writing. I have been trying to write the perfect description that 1) makes someone want to read my novel and 2) makes someone believe it can sell. In essence, I am trying to put words to my voice, style, and vision.
A few weeks ago, my friend Rita sent me a book: The Creative Habit by Twyla Tharp. In it, Tharp discusses what she calls “creative DNA.” I like this quotation:
Tagged with: audience, discovery, quotation, struggle, why write, words
The True Experience?
In searching through some books for “teaching of writing” ideas, I came across this quotation from Vivian Gornick’s The Situation and the Story:
“From the first I thought that to teach writing was to teach my students how to keep on reading until we all saw as clearly as we could what was driving the writer. What, we would ask of the manuscript, was the larger preoccupation here? the true experience? the real subject? Not that such questions could be answered, only that it seemed vital to me that they be asked. To approach the work in hand as any ordinary reader might was to learn not how to write but—more important by far— why one was writing. In these classes both I and my students discovered repeatedly that this was more than half the battle.”
Tagged with: quotation, structure, struggle, students, truth, why write, words
Lyric
I heard a great lyric this morning to go with the website’s theme of “telling ourselves stories in order to live.” The lyric comes from Mary Gauthier’s song called “Lucky Stars.”
“And I know it’s hard to know the truth, so we live with points of view.”
Tagged with: quotation, truth, words
Some Answers?
I read over the student responses to the questions posed in my 15 August post. Here is my summation of their thoughts:
-Even though writing is not speech, it requires voice.
-The writing process is highly individual. Different techniques work for different people.
-Writers owe their audience a way in.
-Writing and reading can empower us.
-Writing and reading can be exercise for the mind.
-Writing can establish a connection between writer and reader.
-Grammar and writing are not inseparable because grammar helps to structure thoughts.
-Writing is a way of self-expression, knowledge, and documentation.
-Each paper should have a writer’s personality.
-All writing is creative because it displays one’s own style and thought process.
-Writing helps organize your thoughts. First you have to form a structure and build ideas.
-Reading helps you learn to write better