The Blues

When the classroom's a mess,
No PE (just got the news),
Meeting time got changed,

That gives me the blues.


That was my Wednesday a couple of weeks ago, and I was indeed quite cranky about all of those things. I did not have to search very far for inspiration as I sat down to write an example of the poetry assignment we were about to start, based off of Langston Hughes' poem, "The Blues."

The kids wrote about what bums them out and tried to make it fit the rhyme.

When I'm on a cruise,
And I have no shoes,
And the floor feels like it's on fire,
That gives me the blues.


When the tire on my bike busts
I do not know which tool to use
Then my other tire busts too
That gives me the blues.


When you play football and the shoes get untied
And you fall and you lose
And play again and lose
That’s the blues.



Some days are just like that--your schedule gets messed up, a cruise deck nearly scorches the soles of your feet, your bike self-destructs, or your team has issues with standing upright. Maybe it's ketchup packets that are getting you down, the loss of eight-legged life, or a lunch that's been left in mom's car. The lunch-in-car situation turned out to be the reason behind Carson's note today.


I don't really know why kids from time to time to call me "teacher," but it's true--some days just give you the blues.

Anyone feeling bummed and rhyme-y? Post your own Blues poem!

4 comments:

Nate said...

When someone says they're into philosophy,
But then only talks about Marcuse*;
One dimensional Marxists,
they give me the blues.

*Okay, I'm fudging the pronunciation, but it's for (nerdy) art's sake.

Sarah Garb said...

When you’re out for a neighborhood walk
And you see some camera crews
And you think you’re going to be famous but then you realize it’s just some crappy promotional video about energy conservation
That gives me the blues.*

*What it lacks in poetic meter, it makes up for in accuracy

Jane said...

When Nate stews his views on Marcuse
Whose Eros and Civilization I perused
While he taught at my Alma Mater
(Before he got in hot Water)…
THAT gives me the Blues!

Jane said...

When Nate stews his views on Marcuse
Whose Eros and Civilization I perused
While he taught at my Alma Mater
(Before he got in hot Water)…
THAT gives me the Blues!

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