April is Poetry Month

I was asked to teach a group of Masters students last night about how I came to teaching poetry. The above clip is a partial film of my presentation. I began with my grandmother, AnE.Rip, moved through my college years and ended with the irreplaceable education my students at Brown gave me. It was Kelly Ruff, class of 1999, who made me see Nikki Giovanni's words for how RICH they actually are She teaches at Virginia Tech and those who know about the shooting from a few years ago should also know she had that young man in her class. She worried terribly about him. My point for posting this, however, is to remember poetry heals. Poetry speaks. Poetry challenges. Poetry defies. Poetry defines. Poetry is.

Poetry is.