It's May. My son is a senior in high school.
And so I keep getting notices from the school
about special events.
Last day for the top fifteen kids' grades.
Senior awards ceremony.
Pick up your cap and gown.
Pay for extra tickets so your family can come celebrate.
My son is not a golden boy
Not one of those top fifteen
Who will fight for the last hundredth of a point
to enhance his GPA
so he can be valedictorian.
Not one of those top fifteen
Who will fight for the last hundredth of a point
to enhance his GPA
so he can be valedictorian.
Instead he is one of those kids who fights and scratches and claws
for every single C.
Today he will take a final
to determine whether he will graduate.
It breaks my mama heart
to see him struggle so mightily
and have so little success
I wonder whether school really has to be this awful
and why we never talk about the bottom 15 kids.
I subscribe to Your Daily Poem.
The poems the past couple of weeks have been so perfect.
Here are a few that I have loved.
***************
"Rudiments of Life"
by Jayne Jaudon Ferrer
Here is a list of proven ways
to enrich your life
and bring joy to your days
eat mangoes, stand tall
pick apples, play ball
read stories, cook stew
buy flowers, be true.
give presents, get hugs
bake cookies, watch bugs…
Read the rest of the poem here.
***********************
***************
"Rudiments of Life"
by Jayne Jaudon Ferrer
Here is a list of proven ways
to enrich your life
and bring joy to your days
eat mangoes, stand tall
pick apples, play ball
read stories, cook stew
buy flowers, be true.
give presents, get hugs
bake cookies, watch bugs…
Read the rest of the poem here.
***********************
Credo
by Donna Hilbert
I believe in the Tuesdays
and Wednesdays of life,
the tuna sandwich lunches
and TV after dinner.
I believe in coffee with hot milk
and peanut butter toast,
Rose wine in summer
and burgundy in winter.
Read the rest of the poem here.
and TV after dinner.
I believe in coffee with hot milk
and peanut butter toast,
Rose wine in summer
and burgundy in winter.
Read the rest of the poem here.
*************
At the Kitchen Sink
by Camille A. Balla
Above the sink
filled with lemony suds,
my hands swish and sweep
around a dinner plate.
I wash, rinse, put it in the rack.
Outside the red maple stands
rooted deeply in her domain
of green grass, lilacs, lavender
A soft breeze passes from there to here.
I wash, rinse, put it in the rack.
Read the rest of the poem here.
Poetry Friday is at Wild Rose Reader.
8 comments:
Oh Carol, I will think about your son all day, wishing him the best. I too wish that teachers would care for that bottom 15-I hear you! And I do the Daily Poem too, & these three were (are) wonderful to see in the am. Thanks for sharing again.
Your "mama heart" is enough -- you know that, right? Hope you keep us updated of all the celebrations (big and small) as the end of senior year comes to a close.
Ruth
I wonder, too....but he has his mama's love and faith that he will find his way. That's what those"bottom15" need to hear and feel in their hearts so that they CAN find their way, right?
I heard your voice so clearly. If I can feel your mama love and "mama heart" I am sure he does too.
Dearest Carol,
I send you sparkles, pixie dust, and glittery sunstreaks all the way from Singapura as I celebrate the ordinary with you and paint it gold. My thoughts are with you. Your selection and this post touched me deeply. :)
Nice choices from Your Daily Poem. And I wish your son the best.
MMMmmm. Yes.
The ordinary.
The bottom 15.
The dishes in the sink.
Amen, sister.
Gifted you are, Carol. With every piece of writing you desire your readers to connect emotionally. I do, every time you write. I work so hard with my 15 strugglers...the system these days it seems is willing to take the joy out every support minute that I give them without giving us any choice as educators in intervention (by the way in Colorado do they talk about integrity to the intervention???) Your son has God and you in his corner....go C students in the class of '012...shine your lights ! xo nanc
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