Thursday, September 28, 2017

Poetry Friday: What You Missed

Last week in a newsletter from On Being, I read a poem that apparently Krista Tippett uses for her email signature (she doesn't email me, so I wouldn't know).  It addresses the secret fear that everyone else knows something you don't.  (And maybe everyone else is getting emails from Krista Tippett.)  The irresistible title of the poem is "What You Missed That Day You Were Absent from Fourth Grade," and it's written by Brad Aaron Modlin.  Below I'll share the beginning, then a link to the whole thing, and then my favorite part, the very end.

What You Missed That Day You Were Absent from Fourth Grade
by Brad Aaron Modlin

Mrs. Nelson explained how to stand still and listen
to the wind, how to find meaning in pumping gas,

how peeling potatoes can be a form of prayer. She took
questions on how not to feel lost in the dark.

After lunch she distributed worksheets
that covered ways to remember your grandfather’s

voice.
 
Here's the whole thing. 
 
And here's the end:
 
 
And just before the afternoon bell, she made the math equation
look easy. The one that proves that hundreds of questions,

and feeling cold, and all those nights spent looking
for whatever it was you lost, and one person

add up to something. 
 
 


Laura has the roundup this week.

13 comments:

Brenda at FriendlyFairyTales said...

I knew I missed some important lessons along the way. Like how to take notes where every word matters. How to find the right chair at lunch time. How to repair a friendship. How to never make mistakes that can't be undone. How to speak when the silence has gone on too long.

What a great poem. Thanks for sharing it.

Donna Smith said...

Well, I did miss one day once in fifth grade...and it was long division! So the feeling of having everyone else know something you don't was very, very real that year. To fill the gap, my mother taught me long division at home, answered any other questions about life and gave me as many missing pieces as she thought I might need.
Sometimes it is all about appearances...
Special poem! Thanks for sharing.

Linda B said...

At first I thought you were going to share a poem I've used with my middle school students that's similar, but no, you shared another wonderful one. There is that time of absence that one does want to know what happened. This may be a time to write another poem now that years have passed. What fun this is, Ruth. And no, I don't get those emails, BTW. Here's the poem I know: https://www.loc.gov/poetry/180/013.html

Linda Mitchell said...

Oh, my goodness....this poem pairs perfectly with Heidi's, Last Day of September. What a beautiful tribute to teachers and the beauty of being. I love this one. Thanks for sharing.

Molly Hogan said...

This poem is fabulous. It makes me sad though, as well. I can't help contrasting the richness of thought and discussion in this classroom with the ticking clock and the rigor of curriculum applied with fidelity. Sigh...

laurasalas said...

This poem...whew. It made me tear up, feel grateful for some of my own teachers and my daughters' teachers, and miss being a teacher myself. Have you read Saving Mr. Terrupt and the other books in that set? This poem could have been written about him, I think. http://amzn.to/2yPk66X

Kay said...

Oh, I think I missed this day, too. Is there any way to go back and replay it? So many important lessons I'm still trying to learn.

Heidi Mordhorst said...

Thank you for making sure I found this poem, Ruth.

Jane @ www.raincitylibrarian.ca said...

It's comforting, isn't it, to realise that (despite appearances) most of us really are just making it all up as we go along, trying to figure out this whole life business and not making too much of a mess of things. It's so easy to feel like we missed that one day in class where everything was explained, and to wonder how everyone else makes it look so easy! But really, we're all in this together, muddling along as best we can!

Carol Varsalona said...

What you missed in school is not what I ever heard by the masses of teachers but now the I am of existence matters. Many credits to teachers who embrace the whole child.

Tabatha said...

How cool to have a poem in your email signature! What a poem, too. It made me wonder whether I could still hear my grandfather's voice, and I was happy to find that I can. Do you know that other poem Linda was referring to? I'm guessing it might be "Did I Miss Anything?" by Tom Wayman.

Christie Wyman said...

Well I love Krista, but she doesn't email me, either, so there you go! Now I know!

Mary Lee said...

It always cracks me up when kids ask if they missed anything when they were gone! Of course not! We just sat and twiddled our thumbs all day waiting for you! (Or maybe you missed some of the things in this poem, but probably not all of them!!)