“April is National Poetry Month!” I posted onto the bulletin board of our school portal on March 30th for the 3 sections of Creative Writing class at the FlexSchool in Bronxville. Imagine a social worker disguised as a creative writing teacher, confined to the physical barriers of a video platform classroom. From the opening of this new school campus in September, 3 creative writing classes were carefully nurtured through the year to develop a safe setting supporting social growth goals of; peer cohesion, reciprocal and respectful communication, acceptance, and positive regard, even warmth. Overnight, we met an abrupt transition in mid-March. Gone are the hugs, the shoulder pats, the spontaneous dancing and sporadic pen throwing. Physical distancing and online school. How do we remain close?
Haiku 1: Walk by A Student April 2020
Through the world
Love, hope, despair.
Let’s get started.
“April is National Poetry Month!” and it’s now May 1st. FlexSchool creative writing students spent the last month taking an exhilarating ride through the diverse world of poetry. Classroom objectives began as a discovery of the multi-cultural wingspan poetry has occupied through history took a turn toward monumental self discovery. Reframing life experience and finding an authentic voice for one’s truth is foundational in poetry. Wallace Stevens reminds us, “Poetry above all others, the most daring form of research”. Themes of personal resilience, the ambivalence of holding anxiety, loneliness while simultaneously growing to find bright spots of light in closer to family and friends began to emerge in spontaneous short poetry activities. How do we tap into strengths amid challenges? Not a unit objective, but I’ll take it!
Haiku 2: By A Student April 2020
You glow like a star
You and only you go far
The door is ajar
“April is National Poetry Month!” was a gift that kept giving. Words matter, right? Extracting the words to convey our meaning is hard work, especially among tweens and teens struggling to know themselves. Words we chose to say to each other matter. Transcribing words to paper or into a Google doc is one thing, pressing the “share” button and then reciting (in some cases singing slam poetry) to your classmates online is an Herculean jump. Maya Angelou once said, “There is no greater agony than bearing an untold story inside of you”. Bearing witness to another’s story is a sacred tenet within the therapy world. It is an act of holding, hugging, embracing another human as they present themselves in a naked form. In 3 classes, there was not one child who withheld their truth. I had the honor of witnessing genuine acts of bravery and the honor of witnessing students creating close community through the stunning adversity of distance.
Ekphrastic Poem: By A Student April 2020
There is a lost boy, staring at the star. He thinks “Oh, how far.” The lions roar, they roar so loud. But these lion’s roar is a friendly sound. The sound moves the grass, and it speaks to the stones. It reaches the moon, it chills your bones. The moon answers, it shifts the stones. The boy has a place to call home.
