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Poems - Three Girls in Three Sonnets
| | Three Girls in Three Sonnetsby varivas
1.
I bet I’m in a poem, Paris tells
me with a confident and rakish grin,
her feet outstretched to show me she rebels.
Not yet. That comment on my mind, she wins
a spot within my lines. With forty days
of absences, suspended for four more,
she made a deep impression. Many ways.
But not the one I’m sure she’s hoping for.
I see in her a leader, every ounce
of talent wasted being what she wants
right now, a bad girl tiger quick to pounce.
I wish for her to learn to learn. It haunts
me thinking of two futures, each one hers.
It all depends on choices, which occurs.
2.
Monifa, much like Paris, only worse –
suspended thirteen, absent eighteen days –
disrupts the class when she is there, will curse
and talk and won’t sit down or work, finds ways
to make life miserable for everyone,
except herself, perhaps a friend or two.
But if she takes away my time, she’s won.
Some days she does. Some days, more rare, I do.
I say her drive could run a business. She
says, Business is for whites. Good point, except
that she could prove them wrong, instead of be
the girl who fails again. Why she’ll accept
that life has done her wrong and not fight back
I do not understand. Stand up! Attack!
3.
Sabrina says she wants a poem, appends,
A nice one. But my poems are not nice.
Her name’s Falguni on my roll. She blends
with friends and loses culture. That’s the price
of hanging with the bad girls, which she does.
A pretty face, body toned, tight clothes,
she fits with them, but does not fit, because
she wants to get good grades, must balance those
opposing worlds. I’ll bet her parents do
not know about Monifa, Paris, bet
they wouldn’t like it much. Sabrina, who
behaves and does her work, can sometimes get
the others working too, so I don’t call.
Sometimes you have to compromise, that’s all.
* * * * *
Author Notes
In 2005, I was 51 years old and decided to change careers from computer programmer to math teacher. My first year teaching -- remedial math at an inner city middle school -- I decided to write a poem per week to keep my sanity. I kept 90% of the poems and worked on them for the next year. This is poem 14 and it has a back-story.
One day I was so frustrated I threw down my lesson plan and shouted: "Would you rather hear me read my poetry?" assuming they would at worst laugh or at best, reject that option so much they'd settle down and do what they'd been assigned. Several of the girls did stop talking but looked up and said, "Yes." Others quieted down so I read them a few, Truth, Heaven and Hell,and Anticipation. They started asking if I had any poems about them. These are what came out of that.
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I love these sonnets
(Score: 1 )
by butterflyzrfree on Tuesday, March 24, 2009 (08:51:43) |
I love these sonnets, and, coupled with the story, is truely inspiring. My best friend has to teach remedial and 'bad kids" and I wish she had some poems like yours! She hates teaching seniors, the disrespect, the constant fighting between her and class, and it would do wonders. You know, 'spoken word is as cool as rap to these kids now, it is a source of pride to them, and maybe you should continue a session once a week where you throw out your curriculum! If nothing else, that would be much easier on you! 
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Re: Three Girls in Three Sonnets
(Score: 1 )
by wordsmithwannabe on Wednesday, May 05, 2010 (23:34:27) |
Hello Victoria, I just wanted to stop by and pay tribute to your lovely sonnet that was chosen as a Staff Pick for May 2010. I am certainly the furthest thing from an expert on form poetry, but this is a well executed and wonderfully penned sonnet; the fact that it comes from your experience as an educator only adds to its beauty. Well done, thank you for sharing your talents with us, and congratulations on your Staff Pick.
chris
 Added on: 25-May-2008 | Hits: 1036 |
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01: wordsmithwan...
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