that magic something
I am waiting for that magic something to occur that is going to make me feel like my Christmas break is complete and that I am refreshed and ready to go back to work. I've got 48 hours for it to occur. I really don't know what it will be, and I have this little feeling that I'm not ever going to feel that way. Which is a bit tiring thinking about in and of itself. I really want to go back to work refreshed, feeling like I'm ready to start second semester with the same gusto that I started first. Of course, if I look back on August, I probably didn't start first semester with all that much gusto, having finished grad school on Friday and gone back to work Tuesday. Really, I've decided that "that magic something" which will make me feel refreshed and ready to go back to work is 2 more weeks of break so that I am bored out of my mind and want something to do.I am so not there right now. Most of my other teacher friends went back to work today, so granted, there is no longer anyone for me to hang out with and waste time with during the day. But I still have quite a list of things I want to do... go to the High Museum, the Aquarium (don't think that's gonna happen), do some shopping, get some reading done for pleasure, play tennis, watch some movies, do some more shopping. Those are just normal things and I don't think that doing all of them would bring that magic fairy dust along with it that will make me really want to go back to work. Alas.
Maybe I should quit focusing on finding that magic something and just enjoy the 2 more days off that I do have!! I can hear you thinking to yourself, Yes, Courtney, that would be a good idea. OK, I will try then. But man, am I looking forward to summer!
I just bought some new books of poetry- Poetry 180 and its sequel, both compiled by Billy Collins, former US Poet Laureate. He has a website of contemporary poetry for high school students, a poem a day for the school year. Its in my links; you should check it out. I am always looking for new poems that really strike me the first time I read them, without really having to think about them. Even though I'm a literature teacher and its my job to analyze literature, I know that it really can kill the spirit of a poem. So, if you know any good poems that I should read, please tell me! Its hard to pick poetry to teach ninth graders! I'm looking forward to reading the new poems I have purchased. But (here's the super-nerd part of me... Am I type A?) I am also looking forward to cataloging them after I have read them.
What I mean is, when I'm writing lesson plans, I always have a hard time finding a poem that is a good example of imagery, or metaphor, or rhythm, all those good ol' literary terms. So I have decided to create a database of poems and catalog them according to their literary devices. And yes, this sounds fun to me. But, before I do that, I would like to share my favorite poem so far from Poetry 180 online. (I like it for its fabulous imagery.)
The Bagel... David Ignatow
I stopped to pick up the bagel,
rolling away in the wind,
annoyed with myself
for having dropped it
as if it were a portent.
Faster and faster it rolled,
with me running after it
bent low, gritting my teeth,
and I found myself doubled over
and rolling down the street
head over heels, one complete somersault
after another like a bagel
and strangely happy with myself.
posted by CP @ 6:57 PM
3 thoughts
3 Comments:
That is an awesome poem. I think I might need to share it tomorrow.
Today my students read this poem - most vivid imagery ever.
A BIRD came down the walk:
He did not know I saw;
He bit an angle-worm in halves
And ate the fellow, raw.
And then he drank a dew
From a convenient grass,
And then hopped sidewise to the wall
To let a beetle pass.
He glanced with rapid eyes
That hurried all abroad,—
They looked like frightened beads, I thought
He stirred his velvet head
Like one in danger; cautious,
I offered him a crumb,
And he unrolled his feathers
And rowed him softer home
Than oars divide the ocean,
Too silver for a seam,
Or butterflies, off banks of noon,
Leap, plashless, as they swim
-E. Dickinson
I know that you have probably read this, but my favorite book of poetry is the Spoon River Anthology. Enjoy your last days of freedom! Your blog provides a great distraction during the work day.
Yep, that's some good imagery. I'm glad you recognize that you're a nerd. Catalogueing!
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