Flail
Miss, miss help me this, I'm missing
I raise my hand needing help, flailing
Arms show I need your help, dropping
Back into my hole, my pride, shattering
The ceiling below as I know, bringing
With me others also fail.
Failing on the fringe, falling
Through cracks, my cracks wrapping
me and them. Screaming
With me, you can see, railing
Hands, needing help, breaking
The floor with my head.
See them flail with me.
Thank you for your lovely, and utterly undeniable poem. I especially love your line "my cracks wrapping/me and them" because it draws in the others feeling the same struggle, and the others being affected as well. As teachers, it is important that we keep in mind what the students are feeling and this poem is a strong representation of that anxiety and need a lot of students feel. Wonderful job, Mrs. Lathrop-Nethercot. Thank you again for sharing!
ReplyDeleteThank you for your lovely, and utterly undeniable poem. I especially love your line "my cracks wrapping/me and them" because it draws in the others feeling the same struggle, and the others being affected as well. As teachers, it is important that we keep in mind what the students are feeling and this poem is a strong representation of that anxiety and need a lot of students feel. Wonderful job, Mrs. Lathrop-Nethercot. Thank you again for sharing!
ReplyDeleteThank you for sharing this poem that speaks right to my heart! Like Ms. Bailey, I was also especially moved by the line "my cracks wrapping/ me and them." My response, however, was more of a highlight on the struggle that I have with my own insecurities or inabilities to successfully reach every student and my fears that I may miss the students who are in those cracks. Also, that my cracks may be exposed to my students and rather than serve as a way to create unity with them it will become an area they will pinpoint to defeat me. I the anxiety in your poem from both the student and the student-teacher point of view. Thank you for using your gift of words to enlighten others!
ReplyDeleteI love the rhythm and imagery of this poem! All those gerunds and participial phrases combine to vividly and actively portray the vulnerability our students feel when they need help or risk failure and ridicule by simply offering an answer or doing the work.
ReplyDeleteThank you, Mrs. Lathrop-Nethercot, for sharing your work with us. I am captured by your poem's depth of imagery. The tone of urgency and panic is indisputably realistic. I am frequently reminding my students that the only way they can fall into failure is if they go willingly. The stair-steps out of such a "crack", are the questions they present leading them back to the surface, drawing them towards the answer to their own inquiries. Thank you for taking the time to write this piece!
ReplyDelete-Mrs. C. Johnson