There is a girl at school named Evelyn (this is her Christian name—more on Basotho naming traditions to come!) and she is a Form B student which is the American equivalent of 9th grade. She asked me to read and edit a poem she wrote in English. The whole time I’m reading it I’m thinking about how good her writing is, and how serious the topic is…. then I got to the end, and I about peed my pants. Here is it:
As I sat down on the porch,
I gazed into the sky,
day dreaming.
I could not believe what
had happened.
Tears rolled down my cheeks
like a flowing river.
I tried to be in the deny,
but the thoughts rolled through my mind.
Over and over.
OH! What had I done to deserve this?
He was my best companion
I’ve ever had in my life.
We were very good friends.
We were always there for each other,
through good and bad times.
We even share jokes for each other,
whenever we meet.
It was always hard for we
could enjoy ourselves to the fullest.
One day I was basking in the sun,
as he came to see me.
I could really tell by the look
on his face,
that sometime was seriously wrong.
He tried to deny,
but I persisted.
Till he spilled the beans.
Dude. First of all, I loved reading all the posts. I was randomly thinking about you a couple days ago, wondering if you were going to update. I’m glad you have! What you’re doing is pretty much totally badass and I’m like, proud of you, or something.
But hey. Reading your poetry got me thinking. I’m teaching senior English this semester and we’re having a poetry unit nearer to the end of the year, but we just finished writing “Where I’m From” poems that are due on Monday (let’s hope they turn them in!). You’re totally a math teacher, but if your students are writing poetry (looks like at least two of them are), we should do some kind of poetry exchange. My kids are so isolated in their community that they have no sense of what it’s like outside their ghetto.
So, if that’s something you’d be interested in (or, say, the English teacher at your school), let me know!