Do you remember at the beginning of the school year watching the short film about how we hide our identities behind facades? Here it is if you want to refresh your memory: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ikGVWEvUzNM
Today's model poem is by Paul Laurence Dunbar – 1872-1906
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| Born on June 27, 1872, Paul Laurence Dunbar was one of the first African American poets to gain national recognition. His parents Joshua and Matilda Murphy Dunbar were freed slaves from Kentucky. His parents separated shortly after his birth, but Dunbar would draw on their stories of plantation life throughout his writing career. By the age of fourteen, Dunbar had poems published in the Dayton Herald. While in high school he edited the Dayton Tattler, a short-lived black newspaper published by classmate Orville Wright. (From Poets.org) |
We Wear the Mask
by Paul Dunbar
We wear the mask that grins and lies,
It hides our cheeks and shades our eyes,—
This debt we pay to human guile;
With torn and bleeding hearts we smile
And mouth with myriad subtleties,
Why should the world be over-wise,
In counting all our tears and sighs?
Nay, let them only see us, while
We wear the mask.
We smile, but oh great Christ, our cries
To thee from tortured souls arise.
We sing, but oh the clay is vile
Beneath our feet, and long the mile,
But let the world dream otherwise,
We wear the mask!
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Use Dunbar's poem as a jumping point to write a poem about masks. Take this any direction, any form. Here is where I went with mine:
End of the Mask Mandate
by Allison Berryhill
Our mandate ended on this day–
The students came without delay
Unmasked! Released! The virus done!
So free at last, the battle won!
Such ignorance was on display.
My cousin died on Monday last.
The COVID blood clots took him fast
At 58, his family stunned
I wear the mask.
I may be safe; I’m now immune.
But maskless piper plays his tune
And children skip with happy gait,
to quarters tight and congregate
Unmasked, they feel too safe too soon.
I (still) wear the mask.
-----------------
Remember you don't need to write about COVID masks...that's just one option.
The year that which COVID struck
ReplyDeleteAnd everything just got stuck
COVID shut everybody down
To live our lives we asked how
But now the vaccine is out and COVID is dimming
Now we seem to getting to winning
But even with our success I fret
COVID isn't done with us yet
Our mask mandate is gone
But this only helps the pandemic carry on
People still get sick every day
We need to wear masks to keep COVID away
Good use of rhyme! I like seeing you experiment with form!
DeleteI fret
us yet
is a good rhyme!
We all wear a mask
ReplyDeleteWhy is the question I ask
Is it because who lack confidence
Or because being new puts us on the fence
Why do we want to hide?
Is there a reason not to see
Or because we disagree
With our own self sense
Why don’t we change?
We don’t we take the task
Of finding why we don’t bask
In the feeling of not being tense
Isn't’ that what you need to de
Why don’t we change!
Danté, you have again voiced a strong message in your poem. I especially liked "or because we disagree with our own self sense."
Delete
ReplyDeleteI wear my mask
Not only the cloth on
My face protecting others
From what I could carry
But one concealing my emotions
The second mask is invisible
No one but I know it is there
Holding in my thoughts that
Are running rampant as I am
Overwhelmed by my surroundings
People go about like normal
While I sit here and focus on my breath
In and out
In and out
I do this to conceal
I do this to mask
WOW, Mary, this is powerful. Your final stanza, focusing on the breath, in and out, in and out, as a way to "mask" is intense. Thank you.
DeleteWe walk down the halls, going about our day
ReplyDeleteSpewing the nonsense we like to say,
But someone hides in the bathroom stalls
As everyone else walks through the halls
They reach for what’s supposed to be their face
Only to find it has been replaced
With a smiling mask, pure white as can be
Stuck on their face, though no one can see
They leave the stalls with nothing more than a smile
But their mask begins to break after a while
They begin to pick up the pieces holding them in their hands
Wanting someone to understand
But then, someone asks are you okay?
They try and make their day
Piece by piece, the mask breaks
As they begin to shake
The one cries into the arms
Hoping to feel safe from harm
And now their mask has disappeared
And their stormy day has been cleared
So reach out a hand to those in need
To grow hope, you must plant the seed
You never know what a person’s going through
You never know what masks they put up for you
Addie, I love your allusions to the short film, while making this poem your own. Your use of rhythm and rhyme is excellent! Your final paragraph is a gem.
ReplyDelete"Their recommended,
ReplyDeletenot required"
Masks in school
are undesired.
I wear mine
almost all the time.
Its for the best,
so I don't whine.
We all want to be free this June.
Everyone's becoming immune.
We are on the right track but..
Is it too soon?
Nichole, I'm delighted to see you experimenting with rhyme! YAY! Super job. Your three stanzas carry an easily determined ABCB pattern! I hear iambic rhythm coming though.
DeleteYour required/ undesired rhyme was super strong!
Masks of Immortality
ReplyDeleteFate is a kindred soul,
Born nought of hate nor love,
So to provide for this oversight,
They were given masks that fit like a glove.
These masks help them in their guide,
A judgement never just nor divine.
Playing gods, Fate decides.
Gambling away others lives.
But oh those masks were stolen away,
By some visiting humans one day.
Forcing divinity back to its gargoyle-like state.
The children begin to play.
Given power of all yet none,
Humans fool themselves at once.
To believe they controlled fate itself,
But in reality they had mere masks.
A mask can paint a thousand words,
But the pure emotions are what count.
So when those put the fragile beasts on,
They lost their mind.