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Poetry Club's prompt for October 19 (issued a week before) was to write a "Next Time" poem. As in: what would you do differen...
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In case you are unaware, there is now a poetry club at the Benton center! They meet every Thursday from 5:30-6:30 in the conference room, w...
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Another excellent meeting of the Poetry Club at LBCC happened on Tuesday October 26. We read our poems related to the assignment: Friends...
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The prompt for poems to write by November 16 is the line: "this is what it is like. Or what it is like in words." from the followi...
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by Mary Oliver Who made the world? Who made the swan, and the black bear? Who made the grasshopper? This grasshopper, I mean— the one ...
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Chocolate tastes sweet, creamy, and rich, Slightly bitter, nutty, waxy, earthy, melty. At least, that's how it tastes in words. But t...
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From the Corvallis-Gazette Times: "Writer Nick Flynn will read from his work on Friday, Oct. 11, at Oregon State Universi...
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My apologies for being a bit absent on this blog lately! There's been plenty going on, of course. Last Friday we had our second successf... -
Hello all! Welcome back to a whole new school year! What does a new school year incite within us? Change, Beauty, Happiness, Grievance... -
Another review is written of the Poetry Club meeting: This one is from Kristen -- Quiet chatter amongst two men fill the gap that is nor...
Sunday, November 14, 2010
By Turtle Shell
This is one of the October 19 meeting's Next Time poems.
------------------------------
Next Time
Next time, what I'll do
is try to join a club or two.
I won't slip in and out of school again
like a sewing needle with no thread.
Next time I'll do more than spend my days
just attending classes, and getting A's.
I'll unlearn how not to be seen,
unlearn how to not talk to strangers.
Unlearn skills hard won to protect the fragile heart
of a weird child who couldn't bear criticism,
from the childish peers
who couldn't let weirdness go unmocked.
Those skills were hard won and are harder lost.
So I'll join some clubs. Maybe a study group.
I'll smile at people, just to see who smiles back.
I'll learn to engage conversation, and not just deflect it.
I can relearn how to make friends.
It's an ability I had once, long ago,
so I'm certain I can reclaim it.
What is going back to school for,
if not to learn such useful things?
That's what I'll do, next time.
This is one of the October 19 meeting's Next Time poems.
------------------------------
Next Time
Next time, what I'll do
is try to join a club or two.
I won't slip in and out of school again
like a sewing needle with no thread.
Next time I'll do more than spend my days
just attending classes, and getting A's.
I'll unlearn how not to be seen,
unlearn how to not talk to strangers.
Unlearn skills hard won to protect the fragile heart
of a weird child who couldn't bear criticism,
from the childish peers
who couldn't let weirdness go unmocked.
Those skills were hard won and are harder lost.
So I'll join some clubs. Maybe a study group.
I'll smile at people, just to see who smiles back.
I'll learn to engage conversation, and not just deflect it.
I can relearn how to make friends.
It's an ability I had once, long ago,
so I'm certain I can reclaim it.
What is going back to school for,
if not to learn such useful things?
That's what I'll do, next time.
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