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Current Events Poems Poetry

Whispered conversations

Graveyards are so much more than a final resting place

They are a collection of memories, shattered dreams, and half forgotten hopes.

A collection of consciousness laying underneath a curated lawn.

Perhaps that’s why, on the clearest day, a breeze always blows

It’s the whispered conversation of souls

Categories
Education History Poems Poetry

Women’s Work

It’s amazing, you know.

The extent to which women’s work is undervalued.

Take the Bayeux Tapestry

A stunning piece of work, handmade circa the 11th Century.

The tapestry tells a tale of knights and battles and victories and failings. A tale of kings and their conquests.

What remains? Steel and Armor?

No. Cotton and linen. Threaded and knotted and spliced and faded. It’s stalwart against the greedy hands of time.

Men. They are the ones remembered. Odo and Harold and Hastings probably. A tale of men, created by women. A history where the historians are forgotten.

Not the skills passed down from the old to the young. Not the time and effort and artistry. Not the artist(s) and historians and knowledge makers and holders.

Not the women. They are…overlooked.

But the tapestry remains. And so too does their memory, if you choose to look.

Categories
Current Events Education Haiku History Poems Poetry

Progress

We drink our coffee

Skid into our parking spot

Late, by two minutes

The day is a drudge

Much the same as yesterday,

As will be tomorrow

Oblivious to

The obliteration of

An entire culture

That’s what we call progress

Categories
Current Events Haiku History Poems Poetry

Clicks of the Desperate

“Doctors” with no oath

Looking to make a profit

Will descend on those

Who want their own choice

Tik toks and others

Will film “do it yourself” clips

And prey off the clicks

Of desperate girls

Boys without knowledge and

Men with few consequences

Will not be party

To the new shadows

Haunting the world of women

Categories
Haiku Poems Poetry

Sips of life

Sitting on my shelf

Is an eclectic collection

Of various mugs

Chipped, bruised, and faded

Or beautiful and pristine

Squat and short, tall and lean

Representing a moment

A collection of past lives.

Past jobs, past people

Past holidays and vacations

The cups tell a story

In sips.

Categories
Current Events Haiku Poems Poetry

Platforms

Art is political

You can’t convince me differently

Because at heart, art

Is an argument

Artists want you to feel or

Think or see one way

The picture is cropped

Colors are chosen carefully

Scenes are deleted

Yet, we are silent

When it comes to disaster

Art doesn’t pay well

And we’re scared to speak

When we should be scared

To stay silent.

Categories
Education History Poetry Teaching

Essays

The typing of keys

The rustling of paper notes

Soft murmured questions

Intensity’s high

When students are writing

Categories
Current Events Education Haiku History Poetry

Dark

States are banning books

900,000 are dead

Now, the GOP

Have, of course, declared

Events of January 6

“Legitimate discourse”

2024

Is barreling fast toward us

A darkness is brewing

A darkness is brewing

Categories
Current Events Education History Poetry Teaching

Systemic Cycles

You may not know this.

But…in 1931,

The US started

Deporting citizens.

American citizens

Were rounded up and shipped out

It seems crazy right?

I’m talking about

People of Hispanic descent

Most had been born here

Why did this happen?

I’m so very glad you asked

The reason is bad…

The Great Depression happened

The US decided

To stop caring for citizens

Of certain origin

History matters.

Those who want to hide history

Want to make damn sure

It’s repeatable.

Don’t fall for the rhetoric

Teach real history.

Categories
Education History

The Causes of the American Revolution

As Told by Gifs (Part 1)

Have you ever woken up and really wished that there were a way you could learn about the American Revolution that spoke to you? Never fear, The American Revolution as told by GIFS is here!

Let’s start at the beginning. Britain, France, and the 13 Colonies end the 7 Year War in 1763 after—you guessed it— 7 years. A lot happened in this war, but the TL;DR version is that it cost Britain a shit ton of money, and resulted in the Proclamation Line of 1763 which didn’t allow colonists to go steal more Indigenous lands. But…if you’ve ever met a colonist…

After the war, which also took place in Europe by the way, stop buying into American Exceptionalism…

Britain was basically broke and since they went into debt partially by fighting the French for the American Colonists, Parliament turned to the 13 Colonies for help.

As you can imagine, the 13 colonies didn’t love that too much.

Let’s talk for a minute about the different taxes that Britain tried to impose. Actually, jk, it doesn’t matter because the colonists whined so much about the taxes that Britain repealed all of the laws.

…except one.

I want to be really clear here. The tea tax was the final tax imposed on the colonists, and it mainly hit the merchants buying the tea from Britain (though consumer prices went up, of course, because capitalism). Also, there were more regulations so people couldn’t bootleg tea anymore. Britain thought they were awesome. They’d finally made a tax that was going to stick, no one could possibly be angry!

I mean, I don’t want to belabor the point but…have you ever met a colonist?

This group of kids called the Sons of Liberty, which, by the way, would be described as Anti-Fa now, decided they were really going to stick it to the British and their tea tax.

And thus, we have the Boston Tea Party. I’ve included a dramatic recreation for you below.

The tea party, as fun as it sounds, actually cost the Brits a whole lot of money. Millions of dollars worth of tea was destroyed. My favorite part is that the Sons of Liberty trolled around the harbor for the next day or so, making sure no one came to steal any of the floating tea.

The Brits, of course, were super pissed.

The Boston Tea Party led directly to the Intolerable Acts…but you’ll have to tune in to part two for that.