POEMORAMA AT PAPER POETRY

First Speech

A senryu inspired by my husband and son

Paper shields my face. Forty-two eyes wait for me to talk about sharks.

Two experiences inspired this poem. One filled me with joy, the other with anger.

Joy

My son delivered his first speech last year. He studied sharks and shared interesting facts about them with his 2nd grade class.

He refused to do it the first time. He told the teacher he was too scared. His dad and I talked to him about it. We validated his fear and told him that EVERYONE gets nervous to speak in front of a group of people.

We shared a couple of our experiences and told him the best hack was preparation. First, practice by yourself. Next, deliver the speech in front of people you trust. Finally, do the real thing.

And he did it. We beamed with pride and celebrated his courage with some chocolate kisses (real ones too).

Anger

This weekend, my husband shared a heartbreaking story with me about his childhood. In 6th grade, he read aloud a story he wrote about magical stones.

Nervous, he rushed up to the front of the class and shielded his face with his paper. He read aloud his fantastical story and when he finished, the classroom sat silent. Confused, he peeked over his wrinkly paper shield to see his classmates pretending to sleep at their desks.

“Why would they do that?” I asked.

“I guess to show how bored they were.”

Mean kids, right?

I thought so too…but they didn’t have a choice. Their teacher, his teacher, told them to put their heads down.

To prove a point.

In 5th grade, my husband wrote a prequel that earned him several young author awards at a district and regional level. That teacher praised him and appreciated his quirky sense of humor.

But, his 6th grade teacher — this teacher — deemed him a cocky troublemaker.

So she taught him a lesson and instructed his classmates to feign boredom. To drive her point home, she delivered a public, scathing critique of his writing.

Thirty years later, he shrugged it off and joked about it, but I saw the sting in his eyes.

“I want to time-travel and punch her in the boob,” I told him.

Since that wasn’t an option, I wrote this poem for Paper Poetry’s prompt. Oh, and accompanied it with some elementary school level drawing!

Hope you enjoyed my story and thanks for your time.

Written in response to Paper Poetry’s Poemorama

Checkout one of William J Spirdione’s free verse poem responses:

Or how about this acrostic poem by Kimberly Hampton Nilsson about laundry — it almost makes me not hate it so much!

Tagging some of my Medium friends to join the fun of Poemorama and try a new poetry form this month: Adrienne Beaumont, Julie Gaeta, Karen Schwartz, Katie Michaelson, and Susie Antonia Come join the fun!