I'm sitting in my office early this morning getting ready to go to class when I reach for my mask and find nothing. No mask! How did I get to my office without a mask? Must have walked across campus without it, so early that no one was present to point out my intransigence. What a scofflaw! A scourge! A menace to society!
I was glad to have a box of spare masks in my office, even if they aren't pretty. At this point, I'm happy to have made it through the week, pretty or not. We have a few new cases of the virus on campus and I have students learning remotely in three of my classes, but we're still here, carrying on as best we can despite everything.
The best moment of the week, I think, was when my literary theory students were scheduled to talk about the role of the poet in society on the same day Amanda Gorman read her remarkable poem at the inauguration. None of the students had seen it before class, so I first asked them why we need a poet at an inauguration, an event focused on government and politics and patriotic spectacle. What can a poet possibly add? My students couldn't come up with any compelling responses until we watched the video. I don't know whether Amanda Gorman's poem would be as powerful on paper, but her performance gave my students something to say: "She made me want to go out and do something amazing," or "Poets remind us who we are." (Because we forget.)
I need that kind of motivation today because this week has worn me out. Two more classes and I'll be done with the first week of the semester! That's worth celebrating even if it ain't pretty.
1 comment:
It is powerful on paper too! Especially the last few lines (every time I see them tweeted out my eyes get watery again). And I want so many clips from her poem on t-shirts.
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