I was invited to do a Poetry Alive Event at St Joan of Arc High School last week. Though it was short of time due to some schedule change, it went very well. I got many great and profound discussions among students and teachers. I invited them to write to me, I hope more and more people enjoy poetry and see the possibility that poetry could be alive in our daily life. The following was a poem by me which I challenged them to think and discuss.
online: i found true love!
yet, the other day when i sat
in a beauty salon, the song
love at a grocery store
stirred up mocking sighs—
smart, at least, find a cook.
and i added,
in a bar, a loser.
uploading my photo, i wonder
what they know of me.
but who cares?
facebook claims its magic—
among an ocean of faces,
all we need is a click.
one could imagine
a door ajar
in a waiting room.
***
The questions I invited them to think were: What is the attitude of the narrator? Approval or disapproval?
Could you find the clues in this poem?
What have you noticed from this poem was different from other poems in respect of form and style? Why?
What do you think are the reasons that the poet applied the difference?
I also used William Marr’s Chicago Winter, Necktie to discuss with them how important the shape could build meanings for a poem.
I used my poems “Window & Mirror” and “Seesaw” to let them find out how many ways one could read a poem.
We also went through haiku and other poems too. I was very happy to share our poetry with the youthful people.