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April 10, 2017
December 21, 2018
That Poetry Prompt is Dumb
I don’t have time for this. This prompt is stupid, besides no way am I going there. I have way too much to do. The business of writing becoming once again my excuse not to write. For today’s prompt, write a ten poem. The poem could have ten lines, ten syllables, and/or have ten syllables
December 7, 2018
People get tagged with these labels…
The story behind the poem:
In 1991 I was hired by the local housing authority (CMHA) as their public information officer. My job was to be a white face to face off with a white media, a fact made clear in my interview. It was my first opportunity to work in place where I was
August 5, 2017
Back to School Poem: My Official List, a writer’s guide
New faces, new names, new voices, new dreams. It’s getting-to-know-you time again, the beginning of a new school year.
Here is a little quick write pattern for creating a cheeky introduction. Fun to write, fun to share. I’m thinking upper elementary, but you be the judge. Here is my model, My Official List. Sorry that it’s
July 14, 2017
The Enemy, Detroit 1954: A Starter Lesson Guide
The pictures are a little grainy with strange stuff in the background. The characters wear old-fashioned clothes and talk funny. Their stories require understanding of situations that readers have never encountered before.
It isn’t that kids don’t like historical fiction; it’s just that sometimes they have trouble seeing themselves in the picture. The pictures
April 15, 2017
Why I Would Never Tell a Student What a Poem Means
Why I Would Never Tell a Student What a Poem Means. (reprinted from the Washington Post, April 13, 2017)
Seems fitting that April is poetry month, a season brimming with blossoming possibilities and longer days. Like jolly jonquils, in April poets are released from our winter hibernation, we shed our black attire
April 15, 2017
Poem/Letter to Someone 50 Years From Now
Following the lead of poet Matthew Olzmann, I decided to try my hand at a poem/letter to someone fifty years from now. As I did some calculations, that turns out to be exactly 100 years from the year I graduated from high school. Since it is unlikely I will live to see 2067, I left
April 9, 2017
Spring! Waltzing through Poetry Month
March 2, 2017
The Enemy, Detroit 1954 Book Launch at Shanghai American School Pudong
Today I gave my first book talk about The Enemy. Exciting, but so weird. I am used to doing book talks sprinkled with poetry. How I came to write this one, what annoyed me enough to write that one. The explanations follow the poem. Everyone in the audience is familiar with the text because
March 2, 2017
I Can’t Answer These Texas Standardized Test Questions About My Own Poems
This article was first published on Huffington Post, January 4, 2017.
When I realized I couldn’t answer the questions posed about two of my own poems on the Texas state assessment tests (STAAR Test), I had a flash of panic – oh, no! Not smart enough. Such a dunce. My eyes glazed over. I checked
