April 2018
Robert K. Johnson
choirofday@cs.com
choirofday@cs.com
Born in New York City (in Elmhurst), I lived in several different places there but have memories only of The Bronx (off Fordham Road). Then my family moved out "on The Island"—to Lynbrook, where we stayed till I graduated from Hofstra (then a College). Several years after my wife, Pat, and I married, we, plus our two children, settled in the Boston area and have remained there (except for my daughter, Kate, who has lived in Manhattan for quite a while). I have been writing poetry since I was twelve (many moons ago).
THE LECTURE
You lecture well in class. You clarify
the poem's compressed syntax, paraphrase
the wording in each stanza, pinpoint why
the form supports the content, cite the ways
the central meaning echoes what we know
were the most popular beliefs the year
the poem was written, and, concluding, show
how those beliefs touch our lives.--Then you hear
the ten-of bell and watch your students spring
to their feet, grab their hats and coats, and flee
the classroom. And, glancing outside, you see
the sunlight splash a swooping blue jay's wings
gold-bright...and know no words your students heard
roused what, in you, that flash of sunlight stirred.
previously published in PASSING MOMENTS
THE LECTURE
You lecture well in class. You clarify
the poem's compressed syntax, paraphrase
the wording in each stanza, pinpoint why
the form supports the content, cite the ways
the central meaning echoes what we know
were the most popular beliefs the year
the poem was written, and, concluding, show
how those beliefs touch our lives.--Then you hear
the ten-of bell and watch your students spring
to their feet, grab their hats and coats, and flee
the classroom. And, glancing outside, you see
the sunlight splash a swooping blue jay's wings
gold-bright...and know no words your students heard
roused what, in you, that flash of sunlight stirred.
previously published in PASSING MOMENTS
©2018 Robert K. Johnson
Editor's Note: If this poem(s) moves you please consider writing to the author (email address above) to tell him or her. You might say what it is about the poem that moves you. Writing to the author is the beginning of community at Verse Virtual. It is very important. -FF