Ode to a Grader

This poem was published in the Delta Epsilon Sigma Journal, a national honor society for Catholic colleges and universities.

NaPoWriMo #28 "The Lioness's Pride"

The Lioness’s Pride

I have my students writing a final
on the infantalization of college students.
It’s a trend I rail against—I teach adults.

But I look at them and what do I see?

My beautiful children. All of them—mine.
My responsibility if only for fifteen weeks.

I am old enough to be their mother—

Older than some of their grandmothers even.
And I am charged to teach them, and not just writing.

I have not figured out a way to teach otherwise.

These are young ones, in my charge, needing help.
This alone triggers the response—the force maternal.

Maternal, but not tender. More feline than human. The lioness.

I can and will cuff them, sometimes with claws, but no one else can.
I am preparing them for a world of predators. Softness will not do.

And at the end of the term—like a cat’s—my job is over.

They wander off, some never seen again. Faded in memory.
But some stay nearer—forever part of my pride. Forever mine.


****
This is for all of the students I've taught. I think they know that I am their teacher for as long as they need me to be. For some that's a term (for some even less!), and for some that's over a decade. They are my pride on more than one level, but I actually can't get this to work. I wrote it with the injustices of America in mind. It's not there yet, but it's also finals week.

NaPoWriMo #21 -- "Upon A Yawn"

Upon a Yawn

I thought it was a simple exchange of gases:

my brain both needed to bring in oxygen

and dump the carbon dioxide. Shallow

breathing brought on by tiredness has

all my balances askew. But then I learned

that it might just be that my brain is

overheated and needs to cool. I think I

like that idea better. It certainly feels as if

my brains are boiling at times. But if that is so,

drinking hot tea (even though mint and

green) probably isn’t helping the situation.

The cause isn’t all that important. As long as

I don’t gape at students. They gawp at me,

and I take umbrage. I really do. At least cover

your mouth! “Am I boring you?” I sweetly ask.

One had the temerity to say, “Yeah, sorta.”

My haughty “I heartily beg your pardon” clued him

in to his faux-pas. Well, the second one. No one does

haughty like me in a snit. Perhaps, though, my

body is telling me “take a rest.” I think that’s it.

Good thought, but work beckons, so once more

into the breach; the quivering nostrils the only

clue to the quietly stifled sign of a teacher’s lot.

NaPoWriMo #20--"Grading"

Grading

 

Words upon words upon words,

piled one after the other in a

dizzying array. Sometimes with

meaning, but many times

meaningless, empty, filler.

Meant to boost a word count

not understanding.

“No joy in the writer, no joy in the reader,”

the old axiom. Not only no joy,

no care, no understanding, no

desire for anything but an “A”

without the effort it demands.

Palpable frustration the grader’s lot;

Much to be said on this, but no time—

the list of papers seemingly endless.

 

***

It's the end of term, and sometimes the frustration spills out. It's not really this bad! I actually have a number of very talented and hardworking students. But at this time of the year, it's the bad apples that stand out--human nature, right?

 

 

"Professor's Refrain, 2015 Version"--NaPoWriMo #4

Some days my job gets to me. But then, the golden moments. I wanted this to be funnier. Somehow it didn't work.

Professor’s Refrain, 2015 Version

Please, put away your cell phones.

Check the syllabus.
Did you run Grammarly?
No, that’s not a good excuse for missing class. 

Put away your cell phones.

It’s in the syllabus.
Did you run grammar check?
There are no make-ups for pop quizzes.

Turn off the cell phones!

For the love of Pete, check the syllabus.
Proofreading would really help.
No, I cannot make an exception “just this once.”

Did you see the video of the professor

smashing a cellphone in class?

Do you know there’s a Facebook page

Called “Read the Freakin’ Syllabus, People”?

But then, then…

Phrases to cherish--

You nailed it! This is brilliant!

You’ve worked so hard.
I can see the improvement!
Wow! I never saw it that way.