June 11, 2020

WHERE DO ALL THE TEACHERS GO? BY PETER DIXON


WHERE DO ALL THE TEACHERS GO? BY PETER DIXON 

For a little child a teacher is special. It is difficult for a small child to think of his/her teacher as an ordinary person. 

Where do all the teachers go 

When it’s four o’clock? 

Do they live in houses 

And do they wash their socks? 



Do they wear pyjamas 

And do they watch TV? 

And do they pick their noses 

The same as you and me? 



Do they live with other people 

Have they mums and dads? 

And were they ever children 

And were they ever bad? 



Did they ever, never spell right 

Did they ever make mistakes? 

Were they punished in the corner 

If they pinched the chocolate flakes? 



Did they ever lose their hymn books 

Did they ever leave their greens? 

Did they scribble on the desk tops 

Did they wear old dirty jeans? 



I’ll follow one back home today 

I’ll find out what they do 

Then I’ll put it in a poem 

That they can read to you.

THE HOME AND THE WORLD BY RABINDRANATH TAGORE


THE HOME AND THE WORLD BY RABINDRANATH TAGORE 

Rabindranath Tagore was a complete artist. He was a story writer, poet, essayist, painter, and musician. 

What moves such an artist who left no field to give expression to the thing bursting within him? 

It was his sensitivity to the world and the human condition which was always present. He lived his art and all that he saw, and all his personal quest and experiences found deep , passionate expression in all his various works of art in all fields. 

His poems and stories are filled with very sharp observations and delicate expression. He could move deeply just with his words and each story is touching, haunting and makes you feel the piece. 

He became an icon in India and in Bengal . He was part of the freedom movement but more as an independent mind looking at the events. And he never stopped short to criticize Indians too when he encountered hypocrisy. He stood primarily for internationalism and his novels and stories and poems expressed that. Yet he could be patriotic too, in a defined context and in that sense he was very modern. 

He had a deep spiritual bent of mind too, which is not surprising as all artists finally need to know the roots of things. His spiritual voice found expression in Gitanjali, a collection of haunting poems that got his the Nobel prize for literature in 1913. , 

All his life, he breathed art in all its forms and even taught by establishing a university called Shantiniketan that was a forerunner of modern methods of teaching……. 

Rabindranath Tagore's novel The Home and the World is set in India during the early twentieth century, a time when England still held power over the country. Tagore writes each chapter from the perspective of Nikhil, Bimala and Sandip to reflect the political turmoil and lack of unity in India at the time the novel is set. The novel consists of twenty-three chapters, each of them a first-person narrative by one of the three major characters. By presenting the story from three different perspectives, Tagore reflects the lack of social unity and political organization characteristic of Bengal and of India at the time the story takes place and gives insight into the diversity of perspectives held about the future direction of India..........

DUST OF SNOW BY ROBERT FROST


DUST OF SNOW BY ROBERT FROST 


The way a crow 

Shook down on me 

The dust of snow 

From a hemlock tree 


Has given my heart 

A change of mood 

And saved some part 

Of a day I had rued.

HOW TO TELL WILD ANIMALS BY CAROLYN WELLS

HOW TO TELL WILD ANIMALS BY CAROLYN WELLS


This humorous poem suggests some dangerous ways to identify (or‘tell’) wild animals! Read it aloud, keeping to a strong and regular rhythm. 

If ever you should go by chance 

To jungles in the east; 

And if there should to you advance 

A large and tawny beast, 

If he roars at you as you’re dyin’ 

You’ll know it is the Asian Lion... 



Or if some time when roaming round, 

A noble wild beast greets you, 

With black stripes on a yellow ground, 

Just notice if he eats you. 

This simple rule may help you learn 

The Bengal Tiger to discern. 



If strolling forth, a beast you view, 

Whose hide with spots is peppered, 

As soon as he has lept on you, 

You’ll know it is the Leopard. 

’Twill do no good to roar with pain, 

He’ll only lep and lep again. 



If when you’re walking round your yard 

You meet a creature there, 

Who hugs you very, very hard, 

Be sure it is a Bear. 

If you have any doubts, I guess 

He’ll give you just one more caress. 



Though to distinguish beasts of prey 

A novice might nonplus, 

The Crocodile you always may 

Tell from the Hyena thus: 

Hyenas come with merry smiles; 

But if they weep they’re Crocodiles. 



The true Chameleon is small, 

A lizard sort of thing; 

He hasn’t any ears at all, 

And not a single wing. 

If there is nothing on the tree, 

’Tis the chameleon you see.

THE LOOKING GLASS BY KAMALA DAS


THE LOOKING GLASS BY KAMALA DAS 


Getting a man to love you is easy 

Only be honest about your wants as 

Woman. Stand nude before the glass with him 

So that he sees himself the stronger one 

And believes it so, and you so much more 

Softer, younger, lovelier. 


Admit your 

Admiration. Notice the perfection 

Of his limbs, his eyes reddening under 

The shower, the shy walk across the bathroom floor, 

Dropping towels, and the jerky way he 

Urinates. All the fond details that make 

Him male and your only man. 


Gift him all, 

Gift him what makes you woman, the scent of 

Long hair, the musk of sweat between the breasts, 

The warm shock of menstrual blood, and all your 

Endless female hungers. 


Oh yes, getting 

A man to love is easy, but living 

Without him afterwards may have to be 

Faced. A living without life when you move 

Around, meeting strangers, with your eyes that 

Gave up their search, with ears that hear only 

His last voice calling out your name and your 

Body which once under his touch had gleamed 

Like burnished brass, now drab and destitute.