This March, Please Excuse This Poem: 100 New Poets for the Next Generation, edited by Brett Fletcher Lauer and Lynn Melnick, was published under the imprint of “Viking Books for Young Readers.” In this case, “young” does not mean readers of nursery rhymes, but rather, the older end of the K-12 spectrum, and perhaps beyond. Though the two-dimensional stereotype of a teenager is disaffected, cynical, and difficult to engage, those of us who actually know and work with teenagers (or those of us who are teenagers) often find actual individuals within that age group to be much more complicated. (Of course.) They are vulnerable and they are strong. They grapple with big questions, big changes, and big pressures. Teenagers and friends-of-teenagers also know that at that transitional, tumultuous age (as at all other ages, really), the sense of reflection, release, empowerment, and empathy that can come from reading and writing poetry and other forms of literature can, for some youth, figuratively and sometimes quite literally, save a life.
For me, the publication of Please Excuse This Poem feels like an opportunity to think about the what/when/where/why/hows of teaching (or simply introducing) poetry and creative writing to teenagers and younger readers and writers. What are the strengths of Please Excuse This Poem, and other youth-focused anthologies? What are some writing exercises or best practices for effectively engaging reluctant readers and writers? Are there overlapping or different best practices for challenging and inspiring youth who are already passionate about poetry and writing?
The anthology has already garnered critical attention, even in the short time it has been available, and the book’s Tumblr page includes links to reviews, resources, and great Q & A exchanges with the anthology’s authors. Considering the wealth of reviews already available, I thought I’d focus on the anthology less as a narrow subject of review and more as a catalyst for related conversation and reflection.
Throughout the next few months, I’ll be reaching out to educators and teenagers about their experiences with the anthology, and discussing poetry and writing in general. Hopefully, some ideas for educators may come out of this conversation as well.
The first educator to whom I reached out is Adam Kaplan. He’s one of my oldest friends, he’s a talented writer and educator, and he’s finishing up a degree to specialize in psychology and therapy (more on Adam in a future blog post). Along with co-teacher Caitlin O’Brien Masonis, he leads a writing workshop at a Central Florida jail, working with minors charged as adults. Adam and Caitlin shared a selection of poems from Please Excuse This Poem with their workshop group, using the anthology selections as inspiration for the students’ own writing.
In response to Carley Moore’s “My Uncle in Reverse,” which begins “Two police officers found you on a bench in Golden Gate Park,” young poet D.T. (full names withheld) wrote the following poem:
When my uncle was first born,
it was a bright sunny day in Arizona
The future was ahead but also malice-
You were an aspiring artist but you were held back
Not by your world around you, but yourself
drugs and evil held you back
You moved to New York for a new start
but no matter where you went the same problems followed
then you were homeless asking where you went wrong
the answer was clear.
C.L. also responded to Moore’s poem, though his prose reflection speaks directly to Moore herself:
The poem was cool. You described your uncle a lot, you gave quiet details and you got to the point. It kind of made me think of my uncle. He did some good things but something always brought him down. I like how you did his life backwards, you don’t usually see that everyday, you started from how he died to how he was born. Overall I liked the poem, you did good.
Inspired by Sally Delehant’s “Flowers at Night,” which begins “It’s raining in my room right now. / I mean outside my room it’s raining. // One time my brother wouldn’t let / someone hurt me when I was little,” poet M.H. wrote the following poem:
Me and my girl like Bonnie and
Clyde for each other we will ride
the road might be slippery like
a slip and slide but we stick
together like magnets you
pull us apart we force ourselves
back together no matter how far you
pull because we’re in it forever
people might doubt but we’re
in through the rain we’re
in through the drought
we are going to stick it out
E.D.’s reflection on the same poem is more conflicted. He writes:
I like this poem but at the same time I don’t because I look for something I can relate to. Now I have a big brother but they never protected me. I had to stand up for myself and protect myself with nobody to help.
E.D also reflected on “Kingdom Animalia” by Aracelis Girmay, which begins “When I get the call about my brother, / I’m on a stopped train leaving town / & the news packs into me like freight”:
I happen to like this poem because I can relate to it when I got the same phone call that my dad was no longer with us anymore. And everything she was going through I was going through at the same time.
Inspired by “Kingdom Animalia” as well, poet M.H. wrote the following poem:
When you lose someone it’s a disgrace
but at least you know they’re in a better
place in the presence of all the kings
glory and grace if you could
see the expression on your loved
one’s face your heart might begin to
slow or it might begin to race
so many mixed emotions when
a human goes through a close loss
they go through the motions, one
minute it could be calm and steady
the next minute it could be rough
and wavy like the ocean you
could lay back and float or ride
it like a motor boat.
And two anonymous “prayer” poems inspired by “Prayer,” by Phillip B. Williams, which begins “Help me distinguish between approaching blizzard / and my man’s mouth against my ear”:
Lord Jesus I might not see you but like the wind can you see it? But it has the power to tear houses to the ground and make waves of the tallest buildings. Lord your love and mercy endures forever for all who believe and I know you in my heart. Like the mustard seed my faith shall be. In your name Satan has no authority in my life for you are with me amen
Lord I’m thankful for my family & all my friends.
Lord you know Im going to prison & you know how
long I’m going in for, please just let the Judge have
mercy on me. Please just watch over my family
while I’m away, keep them safe & let them get
through whatever obstacles they may face. Lord
just help me change and become a better person.
Amen.
I’ll leave you with the words of the young writers above. I wanted to mention that they asked Adam and Caitlin to bring looseleaf paper because they didn’t want to rip their journals to share these with you. I wanted to to mention that (and this has nothing and everything to do with literature): they are human beings. Make of all this what you will.
Also, I’ll write another post shortly, reflecting on the poems by Moore, Delehant, Girmay, and Williams that inspired the above poetry and reflection, and connecting them to potential writing exercises for youth (or any human beings).