Monday, August 20, 2012
Haiku Winner: Bob!
There was an especially rich vein of poetry running through here last Friday. I kinda was surprised-- I thought the topic of "school supplies" would be daunting. But undaunted was OsoGrande:
Mark! Finish washing!
We have to go to Target!
I need protractors!
Renee, as always, was hitting on all cylinders:
My father once stole
Pencils from his Grandma's jar
Depression-born crime.
He never overcame his
Lust for pencils' fragrant gold
Each Yule asked same gift.
... and Jill Scoggins had this sterling entry:
Never had sixty-
four crayon box. Midwest Mom
too frugal for that.
Never had Monkees
lunch box/thermos. Midwest Mom
too frugal for that.
Never had poncho
with peace sign. (Cool!) Midwest Mom
too frugal for that.
Always had all I
needed. Midwest Mom always
free with love, love, LOVE.
Christine and many others had excellent entries as well. But, for reasons I can't totally explain, I was captivated by this entry from Bob, that put me in that place:
Hail the Big Chief Pad!
With those pebble-sized wood chunks,
Generous margins.
Hail #2 pencils!
Fat, round, yellow beauties
With luminous lead.
Together, I learned
To draw and write and doodle.
Invaluable!
Not many people know this, but Bob was Baylor's "Outstanding Senior Man" in 1976. The prizes for this honor were significant:
1) He received a large garland of ivy, which he was to wear for a full year to class.
2) He also led the homecoming parade, and the "Yuletide Festival of Mobile Trees"
3) He was given $390 in gold bullion
4) He got a year's supply of Eskimo Pies, all delivered at once to his dorm room
5) The live bear mascots lived with him
6) He got to fire 3 school employees of his choosing
7) For the months of February and March he was driven to class by Tuesday Weld in a Cadillac convertible.
Needless to say, it was quite a year! It was these many tributes that led him to a career in journalism, writing articles in 1977 for Tiger Beat, Creem, the Paris Review, Sassy Lass, Harper's, the HUD Newsletter, Cat Fancier, the Waco Tribune-Herald, and Big Don's Movie News-- a great career had begun.
Mark! Finish washing!
We have to go to Target!
I need protractors!
Renee, as always, was hitting on all cylinders:
My father once stole
Pencils from his Grandma's jar
Depression-born crime.
He never overcame his
Lust for pencils' fragrant gold
Each Yule asked same gift.
... and Jill Scoggins had this sterling entry:
Never had sixty-
four crayon box. Midwest Mom
too frugal for that.
Never had Monkees
lunch box/thermos. Midwest Mom
too frugal for that.
Never had poncho
with peace sign. (Cool!) Midwest Mom
too frugal for that.
Always had all I
needed. Midwest Mom always
free with love, love, LOVE.
Christine and many others had excellent entries as well. But, for reasons I can't totally explain, I was captivated by this entry from Bob, that put me in that place:
Hail the Big Chief Pad!
With those pebble-sized wood chunks,
Generous margins.
Hail #2 pencils!
Fat, round, yellow beauties
With luminous lead.
Together, I learned
To draw and write and doodle.
Invaluable!
Not many people know this, but Bob was Baylor's "Outstanding Senior Man" in 1976. The prizes for this honor were significant:
1) He received a large garland of ivy, which he was to wear for a full year to class.
2) He also led the homecoming parade, and the "Yuletide Festival of Mobile Trees"
3) He was given $390 in gold bullion
4) He got a year's supply of Eskimo Pies, all delivered at once to his dorm room
5) The live bear mascots lived with him
6) He got to fire 3 school employees of his choosing
7) For the months of February and March he was driven to class by Tuesday Weld in a Cadillac convertible.
Needless to say, it was quite a year! It was these many tributes that led him to a career in journalism, writing articles in 1977 for Tiger Beat, Creem, the Paris Review, Sassy Lass, Harper's, the HUD Newsletter, Cat Fancier, the Waco Tribune-Herald, and Big Don's Movie News-- a great career had begun.
Comments:
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I applaud the choice of the winner, but I must inquire, for those among us (me) who can't comprehend--what are the pebble-sized wood chunks?
Is this a reference to the quality of paper's finish, or a writing instrument, or something else?
I believe Bob should win. Help thou my unbelief.
Of course, there's always something A.E. Housman said about poetry (which one can presume includes haikus about school supplies):
“Even when poetry has a meaning, as it usually has, it may be inadvisable to draw it out... Perfect understanding will sometimes almost extinguish pleasure.”
Is this a reference to the quality of paper's finish, or a writing instrument, or something else?
I believe Bob should win. Help thou my unbelief.
Of course, there's always something A.E. Housman said about poetry (which one can presume includes haikus about school supplies):
“Even when poetry has a meaning, as it usually has, it may be inadvisable to draw it out... Perfect understanding will sometimes almost extinguish pleasure.”
I have a good question: however did Bob actually make it to class when driven by the stunningly gorgeous Miss Weld...perhaps only Tuesdays were a problem?! Congratulations to Bob for this unique honor. Big Chief tablets were big in the life of a student...the draw of the unfilled line. Kudos to Oso for quoting Housman. Or as Marianne Moore said,"A poem should not mean,but be.
I agree - poetry has been ruined for generations of students forced to write endless papers on the 'meaning' etc. Why not just experience, not analyze? Of course, there would be a lot of out of work English profs!
I was lucky enough to have read much of the 'literature' studied in college and HS before it was ruined by over analysis in class. I must say that it took several years to be able to read several books again for pleasure - and I have never been able to read Melville again.
Lee
I was lucky enough to have read much of the 'literature' studied in college and HS before it was ruined by over analysis in class. I must say that it took several years to be able to read several books again for pleasure - and I have never been able to read Melville again.
Lee
# posted by 
: 10:58 AM
: 10:58 AM
Oso--
Big Chief tablets were made from some kind of terrible pulp and had these dark splotches that looked like-- and might have been-- loose wood chips.
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Big Chief tablets were made from some kind of terrible pulp and had these dark splotches that looked like-- and might have been-- loose wood chips.
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