I Bowed Because

I am teaching a poetry unit to some young people and had to struggle a bit to put my favorite (stolen) mantra, “everyone has a poem – and a story – to tell.”

I love poetry. I don’t believe in dissecting it, even though we have to do a little of that; I believe in creating it and sharing it.

My one stopping block–I haven’t written much poetry. I had to get over my own hangups about not having the “talent”to write it in order to help my students write it. Then, in my wanderings,I rediscovered a few concrete poems, a form in which the poetry literally takes a physical form. I knew I had to give it a shot, and suddenly my hangups disappeared.

I think it was a great lesson that, Sometimes, just finding a new perspective can turn a giant hurdle into a tiny little crack in the path. And most of us can easily get over those.