I was in seventh grade, or maybe eighth, when the girl in the fuzzy sweater told me I was cute. I still don’t know why she decided that I was going to be her boyfriend. I was awkward and out of place. I don’t remember ever fitting in, and certainly not with the girl in…
Month: May 2017
Talking Politics with Students
I was raised to believe that it was best to avoid talking about religion or politics in mixed company. The political environment of the United States has become particularly rocky in recent years, making such discussions a potential powderkeg. The election of Donald Trump, billed as an attempt to bring an end to that divisiveness,…
Trump and Family (filk)
(To the tune of “The Addams’s Family”) He’s selfish and he’s creepy He’s grabby and he’s peepy Let’s hope he’s getting sleepy It’s Trump and family His wife is kinda dour Gaslighted and so sour Was it worth it for the power? It’s Trump and family Slick! Sick! Small dick! And don’t forget the daughter…
Fragment
“It might just seem like a pointless detail to you, but it’s a symbol, is what it is.” He leaned in close to me, so I could smell the garlic and cigarettes on his breath. “A symbol of who I am. A cog in the machine. But not just any cog, oh no. A rusty…
Suicide is Pointless
We have a cultural preoccupation with not letting people die. Conservatives focus that obsession on being against abortion and euthanasia. Quality of life be damned: The conservative platform includes cutting welfare and getting rid of government controls. But if someone is dying and wants to do so in dignity, they can’t. And if a pregnant…
My story began before I did
My story began before I did, Written on leather and linen, Papyrus and stone. I was born in the taint of the oppressor Stained white with a fabricated purity Invented by men Then forced into the mouth of God My story was hammered into drying clay Like pigeons’ feet Dancing Across the centuries. My myths…
Reflection
Today, I am a hero to a gull. And probably a sparrow. Coming out of the Target on John R, I saw a gull attacking a heavily greased brown paper bag. He wasn’t getting very far, and was clearly frustrated. As I walked over to look in the bag, the gull flew off to a…
Reflection
On one of my routes home, there’s a signpost to which has been affixed a stuffed animal and a plastic figurine of an angel with the head of a little black girl. It’s bleached now from the sun, and the stuffed animal has gotten raggedy from the weather, and the desolation of it gives me…
Rebuilding the Village
I’m a high school teacher. Many of my students misbehave regularly, and most of them misbehave at least occasionally. The question is as old as it is contentious: How do we properly impel our students to behave properly? The traditional answer is corporal punishment: Spank students when they don’t do as expected, and they’ll stop…
The Fault in Our Genes
Alexander Yarde recently wrote, “Toxic masculinity is not women’s fault.” It was even bolded, lest people miss it, and it followed Yarde placing the heavy lifting of repairing the problem on “cis straight men.” A few months ago, I wrote about toxic masculinity, myself. And, while the title specifically focused on supporting a role for men that…