Return-Path: <nifl-womenlit@literacy.nifl.gov> Received: from literacy (localhost [127.0.0.1]) by literacy.nifl.gov (8.10.2/8.10.2) with SMTP id f9CGN0021756; Fri, 12 Oct 2001 12:23:00 -0400 (EDT) Date: Fri, 12 Oct 2001 12:23:00 -0400 (EDT) Message-Id: <000701c15339$043359c0$fb4ffea9@sgwsnet> Errors-To: alcrsb@langate.gsu.edu Reply-To: nifl-womenlit@literacy.nifl.gov Originator: nifl-womenlit@literacy.nifl.gov Sender: nifl-womenlit@literacy.nifl.gov Precedence: bulk From: "Anna Kalina" <askalina@cts.com> To: Multiple recipients of list <nifl-womenlit@literacy.nifl.gov> Subject: [NIFL-WOMENLIT:1742] Re: Poetry X-Listprocessor-Version: 6.0c -- ListProcessor by Anastasios Kotsikonas X-Mailer: Microsoft Outlook Express 5.50.4133.2400 Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Content-Type: text/plain; Status: O Content-Length: 5181 Lines: 127 Daphne, the poem you posted is very emotion-packed! I second Julie's thank you for posting it. I, too, am enrolled in a literacy seminar class, and interested in poetry and journal writing as literacy tools...I think both have great potential. For a learner, experimenting with poetry and/or journal writing, I think, can make the process of literacy "real," that is, make it one's own, and meaningful. ----- Original Message ----- From: "julie randolph" <jewelyr@hotmail.com> To: "Multiple recipients of list" <nifl-womenlit@literacy.nifl.gov> Sent: Friday, October 12, 2001 8:39 AM Subject: [NIFL-WOMENLIT:1741] Re: Poetry > Thank you, Daphne, for the poem. > I'm new to the listserv and I'm enrolled in a literacy seminar in which we > are discussing approaches to teaching literacy. Poetry, in my opinion, is > such a vital approach. (Poetry and journal writing seem pretty close to > me). Writing about things close to the heart gives literacy a personal > purpose (other than simply being able to contribute to the community).... > Another illustration of this power is the book PUSH by Sapphier. I just > read it last night--I've heard that some literacy tutors use this book in > their approaches. > Julie Cornett > > > >From: "Daphne Greenberg" <alcdgg@langate.gsu.edu> > >Reply-To: nifl-womenlit@nifl.gov > >To: Multiple recipients of list <nifl-womenlit@literacy.nifl.gov> > >Subject: [NIFL-WOMENLIT:1740] Poetry > >Date: Fri, 12 Oct 2001 00:06:00 -0400 (EDT) > > > >About a year ago some of you wrote about the power of poetry in the adult > >literacy classroom. Someone sent me this poem and I think that the rich > >vocabulary and imagery, coupled with the relationship to current events, > >make this a very powerful poem to share, read, and discuss with learners. > > > >I Stand By Your Ear Unseen > > > > I stand by your ear unseen. > > Before the flogging they buried me to my waist in mud. > > One hundred times and one, they beat me with a cane. > > Because I was wearing a burqa > > the mullah was spared the sight of my blood. > > When my family took me home I was unconscious. > >they were forbidden to seek treatment. > > When I died the next morning no one was surprised. > > It was three days after my 18th birthday. > > > > I stand by your ear unseen. > > When I was 14 I wanted to be a teacher. I remember > > laughing with my friends on the way home from school. > > I remember writing poems about the future > > daydreaming at the window into velvet sky. > > Impossible, then, to believe what would come > > after the Taliban took our town. > > > > > > I stand by your ear unseen. > > When I was 15 they came. The wide world choked shut. > > Collapsed to a point of fear, hunger. Constant. > > My sisters and I ate what brothers left. Little. They > > could leave the house for classes, for work. > > My mother's office job was taken away. > > When my uncle would accompany her > > she took her turn wearing a neighborhood burqa > > so she could look for food. She sold our books. > > > > > > I stand by your ear unseen. > > Three years. My youngest sister sickened. > > My father carried her to the hospital but > > they told him to throw her away. She died at the door. > > That's when my anger endangered all of us > > In her name I started a secret school. To read > > to write, five little girls and I risked our lives. > > I would do it again. It was a way for ghosts > > to have hands and voices for awhile. > > > > > > I stand by your ear unseen. > > When another decree was issued, that houses with women have all windows > >painted black, we had no funds. > > My father was gone, forced into the militia. > > My mother had nothing left to sell. > > They marched in to bully us > > found the hidden school slates behind my bed. > > Hauled to the mullah, I told nothing. > > He shut the door and raped me. > > > > > > I stand by your ears unseen > > Famine and depression make periods scant. > > I didn't know about the baby at first. > > My aunt had the right herb in a hidden pot on her roof. > > She stayed while my baby bled out. > > A new decree, forbidden to make sound when we walk, > > caught her when she left. She didn't have shoes that were silent. > > They beat her on the street until her accompanying son > > in his panic tried to shield her > > by sacrificing me. The mullah learned everything. > > > > > > I stand by your ear unseen. > > He announced my offense of having an abortion > > which proved I was promiscuous. > > My crimes cloaked his and no one > > could do anything but pray I might survive. > > That prayer was not mine. I was ready to depart. > > I do not ask for personal mourning. Twelve million living > > women and girls require your outrage. > > Lift your veil! Open your ear. > > > > > > By: Sue Silvermarie, an American supporter of the > > Revolutionary Assoc. of the Women of Afghanistan (RAWA) > > > > The RAWA website address is: > > http://rawa.false.net/index.html > > > > > > > _________________________________________________________________ > Get your FREE download of MSN Explorer at http://explorer.msn.com/intl.asp > >
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