Transcendentalist poem (in progress)

The wind whispers yesterday's secrets to the leaves and I stand listening to their stirring, unable to translate yet understanding their excitement. Because i feel the wind brush my face and chill my ears, resonating with songs it picked up on its way to me. It tugs at my jacket and pushes me onward, never idling in one clearing. So I follow the wind back to the birds, who's rejoicing notes are clear and ringing with hallelujah and even though they too communicate without words, I've heard the tune somewhere before. Slightly different but distinct between the crunching sticks and fiery snow covering the forest floor beneath a traveler's boots in Fall.

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Warm up -Tuesday February 19

All students learn and comprehend subjects at a different pace. Assigning fifty math problems a night might help certain students that need to learn through repetition. However, if someone understands after ten then the rest is just a waste of time. Students need to realize early on which type they are and should be given the chance to make the decision to do homework accordingly. This method doesn't work for every subject though. English is a subject that depends heavily on the combined opinions and discussions between the students. If the discussion in class revolve around a section of reading homework the night before, then it is mandatory. Essays don't go away after high school like worksheets will. Everyone needs to learn how to write papers while not everyone needs to develop an accurate history of the Incan empire.

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Warm up- Wednesday February 13

Me: "hey I want to go and hang out with my friends tomorrow."

Mom: "ok and?"

Me: "so can I borrow some money for food?"

Mom: "sure just bring back whatever you don't use."

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Me: "hey do have a couple dollars?"

Friend: "yeah I think so why?"

Me: "can I please borrow some I'll pay you back whenever I promise."

Friend: "sure maybe instead you can buy me lunch one day."

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Warm up- February 12th

Darci: "hey, are you ok?"

Kelly: "obviously not"

Darci: "woah sorry I just wanted to try and help"

Kelly: "well you can't so just go away"

Darci: "even if I can't help, can I at least sit with you?"

Kelly: "...I guess"

The insist down and just wait there in case she wants to talk after all.

 

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Warm up - Monday February 4

In the allegory they make a big deal about the fact that by going out into the world, the prisoner now knows what they are missing by being in the dark cave. He has seen more than the shadows and so he pities their situation. However, when he goes back to the cave he frustratingly can't do anything to let them know about what they aren't seeing. All they know is the shadows and so the ridicule him for going out. He has all this information about the outside world but he can't share it without consequence. The same happened to Frederick Douglas in Learning to Read and Write. Once he could read the stories of others putting his feelings into words and giving his opinions about slavery a voice he was energized. This made him frustrated because he understood all these opinions and rights he thought he should have but it was dangerous, and probably fatal, to even voice them. His grasp over why he wasn't given freedom put him miles ahead the other slaves.

 

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Warm Up - Wednesday Jan. 30

I hate this whole idea. I'm not against their right to say what they want or to believe what they're saying is true. What makes me incredibly angry is the way they are doing it. They are so rude and egotistical and I can't imagine that God would want them to act the way they do. To other people it just makes them look like crazies and then most people clump them together with all believers and religious people. I am Christian and when I think of God I think of a loving being who hates no one. I've always known that He loves everyone no matter what and these people's actions don't reflect that love at all. Things like this turn religion into a taboo subject because the population starts to identify believers as hateful, judgemental, and damning which is not what being a believer is about. We are not placed on this earth to spend our lives condemning others and putting them down when if we supported them it would not only make their lives safer and easier but make our lives open to love.

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Scratch and Dent Dreams - Eric Darby

Postcards - Sarah Kay

Poem

I'm crumbling
falling piece by piece
as my world is torn apart
and my will is failing
It's hard to imagine it was ever different
frailty was once stability
A warm breeze giving way to winter's chill
but I remember
I remember how the stars shone
illuminating possibilities
chasing away doubts
Reflecting hope in my eyes
but they fell
leaving behind a blank sky
a black hole that does nothing except devour

Yet even without light
there's no relief of darkness
darkness would hide the mistakes and the slips
I see them perfectly
holes and cracks
rips in my heart that were once whole
spread and surround me
as if walking on a pond unable to support me
frozen by fear
and standing alone on the edge
watching memories
dreams
hopes fall slowly from their branches
daring me to reach out
to catch them before they are lost
never saved
never brought back
remembered only by the hole left behind

It's lonely out in the middle
With every passing second waiting
I wait for the turning point
to fall through the ice and feel water's bite
to look up and see that final hole crumbling
maybe I'll go tumbling down like Alice,
passing everything that slipped through the ice before me

It's lonely out in the middle
where no one dares to walk
cries fall on deaf ears along the shore
I don't blame them
it's dangerous out here
Where the slightest movement spells disaster
I endure without the stars
I endure the chill that leaves nothing untouched
because there's no warm blanket
no hot cup of peppermint tea to burn my tongue
So I wait
holding out for another outcome
a different turning point
someone who makes that journey out to meet me
Slips their hand in mine and holds it close
reassuring me
I don't have to endure anything alone

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Warm Up - Thursday Jan. 17th

Yesterday I realized something about myself. There were people who would choose the opportunity to be rich over doing something that they love. Some didn't even try and hide behind reasons like being able to support themselves. They wanted material things. Having the money to buy things and those things would "make them happy" seemed to be the consensus. I couldn't wrap my head around it. Sure money would make life more comfortable, but we were talking about being rich. Time and time again life shows us that money and material possessions can't give you happiness. It sounds cliche but its true. You can try and trick yourself into thinking it's filling a hole but when you are dying and near the end what are you going to be thinking about? Are you going to regret not getting that car or buying a bigger house? I hope not. I want to base my life around people and places and activities that genuinely make me content and happy to be alive. I want to wake up everyday and feel blessed by my life. Before yesterday I never realized how strongly I believed in fulfillment over fortune.

 

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3 poems by Charles Bukowski

Stranger in a strange city

I think this poem is mostly about the feeling of being lost and frightened. At no point does he try to enjoy his surroundings and not be so worried. Instead, he spends his whole time thinking about what he left behind in his familiar room. “...I soon became frightened, a numb terror like a fatal illness spreading through me as I kept walking up and down unfamiliar streets...” This happens everyday when people don't stop to live life because they are to busy worrying about the future. Stop and smell the roses. They also avoid new experiences in favor of familiar comfort in what they know.

 

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Warm Up - Tuesday January 15

The American Dream often reflects the priorities of the people. A lot of the time, I realize that these are not what they used to be. Of course society has changed with progression because that's to be expected but what was important decades ago is lost today. The "American Dream" was a term people associated with the move to the west because it was a time when our traits of perseverance, our willingness to put up with hardship to further our country, and a drive to make a better life for ourselves were what stood out. Today the average person goes through their day with no drive to push themselves to do better or make more for themselves. When asked what our "American Dream" is most people respond with what they think it should be, what they've been taught should be our goals. Do good in school, go to college, get a job, have a family, be relatively happy, retire and that's it. We can simplify our life in one sentence. We don't think about the details around how we are going to make that happen. Of course I want to be happy and have a family, that's my dream! But I can't just order it and have it show up on my doorstep like the latest technology. We've gradually been programmed to expect things. I hate how it all comes back to society becoming accustomed to a certain way of life like we deserve to be happy without trying. No one can hand you happiness on a plate. You have to earn it.

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