Nevins is co-publisher of The Fulcrum and co-founder and board chairman of the Bridge Alliance Education Fund.
On April 23, I wrote in The Fulcrum that “April is National Poetry Month, and our democracy needs her poets.” At the end, we asked our readers to inspire us with writings of their own.
And inspired we were.
One of many responses was from "Mr. K," a teacher of 25 years in Oregon and now Tennessee who has a life-long passion for poetry — particularly poetry by ordinary people who have had thoughtful and deeply felt “Aha!” moments in the course of their lives.
He emailed this to me:
As I read your April column I reflected on how human beings of all ages, in all times, have included poetry in their lives to try to express and understand the parts of their lives, loves, experiences and struggles that Science, Faith and Politics have failed to help them with. My first degree is in Math, I speak 6 languages and have worked and lived in many different cultures and countries, and I decided a long time ago that poetic expressions and lyrics to popular songs do a poignant job helping us understand complex issues – in a way that Science, Philosophy, Faith and Politics fail to do.
In most cultures, past and present, poetry has been a must-know, and a must-use form of expression for lovers, people in pain and people who adore many simple things. The Psalms are, of course, full of poetic power, and many of our best songs through the years have been reformatted poems.
He went on to tell a story that speaks to the power of poetry:
When I lived in Alaska I penned a weekly column in a local newspaper that ran for many years, with contributions from all kinds of people, and from all ages. Once an older, hard working dozer operator cornered me with a column he had cut out and kept in his pocket for weeks, and he said: “ You know, I can’t say I completely understand this poem, but I keep reading it and smiling and thinking a1000 thoughts when I take the time to enjoy it. Thank you.”
Mr. K and his wife, Evy, recently created the nonprofit PoetSpeak to publish poetry that is “Useful, Accessible and Enjoyable.” It is meant to bring courage to all the people who, like the dozer operator, have penned or enjoyed a perfectly adorable and meaningful poetic expression. The site is meant to be enduring and be a vehicle to honor all the delightful little poetic expressions that we each bubble up in the cause of our lives.
Here are two poems he penned, trying to express how a teacher thinks and feels when one of his students finally reaches that magical moment of feeling successful, and safely at home. The first is from a K-4 classroom experience, and the second is from an alternate high school experience.
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We cry
Four migrant mothers came
To our school,
All the way
From far away places . . .
They trusted us
With their littlest ones . . .
These tiny Kinders come
With hearts full of fear,
And big dreams,
And they all want to learn
How to spell,
And write
Their names
With people who love them
Just the way
They are . . .
Sometimes they cry,
A little –
When they don’t understand
Why their teacher doesn’t talkJust like their Ma’Ma.
A Wannabe
She showed up
In my classroom,
Dressed in a Happy Sweater
Saying
I’m an America Girl . . .
She barely knew
How to say
‘I Am’
And she hardly understood
The 1st grade story
About Sam
And his dog . . .
She is 19,
And she knows
ONE thing,
For sure,
She WANTS TO BE
An American Girl,
In her new country . . .
I begin
By teaching her to say
‘I AM’
And Si, Se Puede
In English …
And she smiles
With her whole being.
Not only will we share previously published poetry, but we hope our readers will inspire us with writings of their own. Please share your writings or your thoughts as to the power of poetry to strengthen our democracy and our bond as Americans. You may email us at: pop-culture@fulcrum.us.
