"Paradise (Lost)"
An explosion of fire, smoke
swells from an oil rig:
this artificial island suspended
over water, its fractured legs
bent like a heron's
its head tilted away from heaven
a fall from (dis)grace
Oil spreads like the devil's hands
reaching out for sinners unrepentant
and greedy for sunken treasure
swallowing wahoo and yellowfin
along the way Brown pelicans
bearing the weight
of man's transgressions
The horizons of this deepwater hell
have broken into pieces of a nightmare
that no one can sweep up
not even God
And the sinners who ask for mercy
suffer from amnesia, their memories
evaporate like smoke
vanish into water
They begin to build
another island
Monday, April 4, 2011
Sunday, April 3, 2011
Poem #3
Today's writing prompt: write a postcard poem.
"Greetings from the Garden State!"
Sturdy daffodil stems poke
though the cold ground
It's April and the snow has not stopped
The pollutant sheen of sunsets is lovely
and traffic moves like angry bees
looking for honey that isn't there
We don't wish you here
We dream of warmer gardens
"Greetings from the Garden State!"
Sturdy daffodil stems poke
though the cold ground
It's April and the snow has not stopped
The pollutant sheen of sunsets is lovely
and traffic moves like angry bees
looking for honey that isn't there
We don't wish you here
We dream of warmer gardens
Saturday, April 2, 2011
Poem #2
"Still Life"
a bowl of chocolate-covered sunflower seeds smile
in pastels of lavender, orange, yellow, pink
mug of tepid half-drunk coffee
toast crumbs on a plate, drips of butter
pre-dawn sky vanishes
morning sun fills the kitchen
--it's later than I thought
then suddenly a cry
muted and distant
cuts the soft light
into pieces
my day has begun
a bowl of chocolate-covered sunflower seeds smile
in pastels of lavender, orange, yellow, pink
mug of tepid half-drunk coffee
toast crumbs on a plate, drips of butter
pre-dawn sky vanishes
morning sun fills the kitchen
--it's later than I thought
then suddenly a cry
muted and distant
cuts the soft light
into pieces
my day has begun
Friday, April 1, 2011
Happy National Poetry Month!
Okay, so I'm starting a new Season of the Show, but leaving up last Season's failed attempt at blog-as-educational-tool... just in case someone finds it useful.
As you may or may not know, April is national poetry month (happens to be my birthday month, too --so it's smiles all around). With this month comes the 30 day/30 poem challenge. And here we are, April 1st. April Fool's Day.
My first poem of the month comes from an in-class exercise I did with my students this morning. They seemed to like it (though I think it's ridiculous) so I'm posting it here as my first poem of the month. Enjoy! (or not - hah!)
[The exercise was to write a love poem using scientific language we came up with during class & wrote on the board.]
"Supernova"
Light my Bunsen burner, baby
and I will show you a galaxy
beyond your wildest dreams of fusion
The viscosity between us is undeniable
as red stars explode in celebration
of our molecular binding
The teslas of our love can withstand
the collision of planets, the pull of other hearts
together, we are a supernova
We are the quarks within the atom
the fire within the spark
the constellation in the night sky
As you may or may not know, April is national poetry month (happens to be my birthday month, too --so it's smiles all around). With this month comes the 30 day/30 poem challenge. And here we are, April 1st. April Fool's Day.
My first poem of the month comes from an in-class exercise I did with my students this morning. They seemed to like it (though I think it's ridiculous) so I'm posting it here as my first poem of the month. Enjoy! (or not - hah!)
[The exercise was to write a love poem using scientific language we came up with during class & wrote on the board.]
"Supernova"
Light my Bunsen burner, baby
and I will show you a galaxy
beyond your wildest dreams of fusion
The viscosity between us is undeniable
as red stars explode in celebration
of our molecular binding
The teslas of our love can withstand
the collision of planets, the pull of other hearts
together, we are a supernova
We are the quarks within the atom
the fire within the spark
the constellation in the night sky
Wednesday, October 20, 2010
Notable quotes from Junot Diaz at Montclair State University
The following quotes were taken during the Q&A portion of the event, so the topics were inevitably dictated by the audience members posing their "questions" (sometimes they were actual questions, other times they were orations based in and on self).
*************
On compassion:
"How many of us tell a 4-year-old:'you're a moron'? Compassion begins with the self --stop kicking yourself and be kind."
On art:
"Art is a fundamental human vocation. We try to summon beauty."
"In art, you are who you really are. It gives you a space to be human."
"Art asks you to be in contact with your true self."
On success:
"The most successful people are those who tolerate failure the best."
"You're awesome because you fail a lot."
On the college experience, beyond a classroom education:
"Lower your guard. Accept that you can look stupid or be wrong in order for transformation [of self] to happen."
"We, the educators, the professors, want you to be transformed --that's the point of college."
On violence:
"The best way to fuck something up forever is with an act of violence."
"Violence lasts forever."
*************
On compassion:
"How many of us tell a 4-year-old:'you're a moron'? Compassion begins with the self --stop kicking yourself and be kind."
On art:
"Art is a fundamental human vocation. We try to summon beauty."
"In art, you are who you really are. It gives you a space to be human."
"Art asks you to be in contact with your true self."
On success:
"The most successful people are those who tolerate failure the best."
"You're awesome because you fail a lot."
On the college experience, beyond a classroom education:
"Lower your guard. Accept that you can look stupid or be wrong in order for transformation [of self] to happen."
"We, the educators, the professors, want you to be transformed --that's the point of college."
On violence:
"The best way to fuck something up forever is with an act of violence."
"Violence lasts forever."
Tuesday, October 19, 2010
We will return to our regular programming
...as soon as I find my notes on Junot Diaz at Montclair State University and the Dodge Poetry Festival in Newark...
Friday, October 1, 2010
We interrupt our regularly scheduled programming--
I need to take some time to process what has happened at our university.
A first-year student, Tyler Clementi, committed suicide last week. Two first-year students, Dharun Ravi (Clementi's roommate) and Molly Wei (Ravi's friend from high school), are charged with invasion of privacy after allegedy broadcasting over the internet a sexual encounter that Clementi had with another man. The details can be found anywhere online. Here is one article. Here is another. This article offers an interesting angle from Clementi's point of view.
This is a terrible terrible tragedy and the actions of the suspects are appalling & outrageous. Though I did not know Clementi, nor do I know Ravi or Wei, I feel really affected by this because it has taken place in my own backyard. I have a heavy heart.
But what's unsettling to me now is some of the responses by the general public.
Some have commented on online articles with a lack of empathy for Clementi. Things like, "I felt like he did but I didn't kill myself, I found a way... --why would you do that?"
Some are quick to pass harsh judgment, calling for involuntary manslaughter charges for Ravi and Wei. There is name-calling and villification.
But let's take a step back. Breathe. Pause. Take a closer look.
These are three first-year students who have been in the process of making that significant adjustment to college life --after all, it's only been a month since the semester started. I brought this discussion to my class this morning. Two of my own students commented that Ravi & Wei's behavior is "very high school". This touched on what had been bothering me these past few days: these three students are kids, really --and they are from a generation that has grown up in a vastly unwieldly world. What do I mean by "unwieldy"?
Think about this: the average first-year student was born in 1992. They do not know a world without the internet. Their main mode of communication has nothing to do with pen or paper or ink of any kind. The speed at which technology moves is incredible, to the point where we (the grown-ups) are chasing it just to keep up. How many times have you read or heard a story about a pre-teen girl taking a naked photo of herself and sending it to a boy she likes, just so he'll like her back? And then that boy sends it to his friends, and soon that photo is circulating out in the unmanageable world of the internet. It is so easy for young people to communicate with each other, physical boundaries be dammned. You want to share a song with your friend in the Philippines? No problem. You want to rant about something to the world? Piece of cake. You want to broadcast your roommate's sexual encounter without his knowledge? Go right ahead.
So here's the thing: we lived in a world that gives young people --kids who are still trying to figure out who they are in the world-- the easy tools to invent themselves & create personas; this requires some serious guidance. They know they can get away with certain things --saying outrageous or cathartic things online through a screen name, for example-- and not be held accountable. Not immediately anyway. And sometimes, they're never held accountable, depending on what was said.
Many young people don't think twice about what they share on the internet. Many young people can't tell the difference between what is real and what isn't. There are so many boundaries that have been blurred by the internet, including how to handle something like cyber-voyuerism in a court of law, but particularly moral and ethnical boundaries. So where is the guidance?
We as a society need to step up and provide the values that have fallen to the wayside (and in its place is sex & violence). We need to set examples for this young generation before they self-destruct.
I think about Tyler Clementi and wish he had taken a moment to breathe, to pause, to take a step back. Maybe he could have found some help, some support. I think about Dharun Ravi & Molly Wei and wonder where we as a society have failed them and the others who have resorted to this kind of behavior. I think about all three students' parents and pray for them as they struggle with what has happened. I cannot even begin to imagine what that would be like, if that was one of my kids.
So please, pause & take a breath. This is more complex than it seems.
A first-year student, Tyler Clementi, committed suicide last week. Two first-year students, Dharun Ravi (Clementi's roommate) and Molly Wei (Ravi's friend from high school), are charged with invasion of privacy after allegedy broadcasting over the internet a sexual encounter that Clementi had with another man. The details can be found anywhere online. Here is one article. Here is another. This article offers an interesting angle from Clementi's point of view.
This is a terrible terrible tragedy and the actions of the suspects are appalling & outrageous. Though I did not know Clementi, nor do I know Ravi or Wei, I feel really affected by this because it has taken place in my own backyard. I have a heavy heart.
But what's unsettling to me now is some of the responses by the general public.
Some have commented on online articles with a lack of empathy for Clementi. Things like, "I felt like he did but I didn't kill myself, I found a way... --why would you do that?"
Some are quick to pass harsh judgment, calling for involuntary manslaughter charges for Ravi and Wei. There is name-calling and villification.
But let's take a step back. Breathe. Pause. Take a closer look.
These are three first-year students who have been in the process of making that significant adjustment to college life --after all, it's only been a month since the semester started. I brought this discussion to my class this morning. Two of my own students commented that Ravi & Wei's behavior is "very high school". This touched on what had been bothering me these past few days: these three students are kids, really --and they are from a generation that has grown up in a vastly unwieldly world. What do I mean by "unwieldy"?
Think about this: the average first-year student was born in 1992. They do not know a world without the internet. Their main mode of communication has nothing to do with pen or paper or ink of any kind. The speed at which technology moves is incredible, to the point where we (the grown-ups) are chasing it just to keep up. How many times have you read or heard a story about a pre-teen girl taking a naked photo of herself and sending it to a boy she likes, just so he'll like her back? And then that boy sends it to his friends, and soon that photo is circulating out in the unmanageable world of the internet. It is so easy for young people to communicate with each other, physical boundaries be dammned. You want to share a song with your friend in the Philippines? No problem. You want to rant about something to the world? Piece of cake. You want to broadcast your roommate's sexual encounter without his knowledge? Go right ahead.
So here's the thing: we lived in a world that gives young people --kids who are still trying to figure out who they are in the world-- the easy tools to invent themselves & create personas; this requires some serious guidance. They know they can get away with certain things --saying outrageous or cathartic things online through a screen name, for example-- and not be held accountable. Not immediately anyway. And sometimes, they're never held accountable, depending on what was said.
Many young people don't think twice about what they share on the internet. Many young people can't tell the difference between what is real and what isn't. There are so many boundaries that have been blurred by the internet, including how to handle something like cyber-voyuerism in a court of law, but particularly moral and ethnical boundaries. So where is the guidance?
We as a society need to step up and provide the values that have fallen to the wayside (and in its place is sex & violence). We need to set examples for this young generation before they self-destruct.
I think about Tyler Clementi and wish he had taken a moment to breathe, to pause, to take a step back. Maybe he could have found some help, some support. I think about Dharun Ravi & Molly Wei and wonder where we as a society have failed them and the others who have resorted to this kind of behavior. I think about all three students' parents and pray for them as they struggle with what has happened. I cannot even begin to imagine what that would be like, if that was one of my kids.
So please, pause & take a breath. This is more complex than it seems.
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