Poem from Creative Writing Students
I am relearning this garden of my own making
I vow to be different.
As I move away from waiting rooms and call lights,
I enter a realm of quietness.
The walls are plastered with black trash bags.
I dunno why I’m here, man, I got shit to do.
Let me try this again
I should be worshipped and feared like a god.
Six people are snorting what looks like blow
They are almost like cats in a way
“No! My pie!” Sue cries from the kitchen.
These goddamn antics weary me,
Why do you really need a five-foot kazoo?
Let’s just make a drink with the juice and Malibu
I basically feel like a water balloon.
Tom smells like an apple tree
I have to sit on him (gently)
People jump up and down on their cars
throwing toilet paper
No traditional furniture in sight
The clocks stopped working about five days ago
“So tell me straight, are you sure you’ll be fine in America?”
Source & Method
Poetry, short stories, and creative nonfiction of my writing students at De Anza College, Fall 2019. I wanted to include a line from each student’s work, so I chose ones that fit into a sort of narrative about my own teaching and life in the current moment.
Lita Kurth is a teacher and nominee for several Best of the Net and Pushcart Prizes in multiple genres, Lita Kurth also writes novels. As a current project, she sends lesson plans and feedback to a group of incarcerated poets.