‘Six Realms of Faith’

God Needs To Be Involved!

A sample from Book 4

 Six Realms of Faith
 
having an idea
‒one that's clear
strips the fear
‒a free-thinker's agenda
a place your life
to steer
 
adding content
‒liberating a commitment
instead of settlement
replacing resentment
‒being legitimate
instead of being stuck
in a clique's common placement
 
having an individual voice
it's a choice
instead of being a toy
for others to enjoy
‒standing out
on your own paved soil
 
saying what you mean
with fluency
‒not living
in hypocrisy
strips away life's crazy
stops the path of lazy
smack-dab
in the middle
of its lunacy
 
perfecting convections
improving slang's grammafications
 
turning into a professional
leads to graduation
adds promotions
in this world of intoleration
 
putting it all together
a profession's
perfect presentation
ready for any situation
walking away
from damnation
without hesitation
 
for I am
in life
a worthy publication
 
my world
always
a learning reflection
of mistakes made
every word heard
I can turn around
all situations
with these six realms of faith
I can change
my fate
Continue reading “‘Six Realms of Faith’”

‘Leave It All Be’

Just Let the Children Learn!

A sample from Book 4

 Leave It All Be
 
ma' lord...be gone
your grace here...so wrong
―stayed on track
non-constant watching back
since I's young
no steady song sung
I's get use to a way
then thes' be's the day
some different mold of clay
readin' I's be laughin'
 
yes―there in the secon' grade
we's laugh...giggle
what fun we made
 
I can tell a book mighty fine
it had all stuck in my mind
then came the time
got me all out of line
 
yes...fourth grade it was
cuz books were a fuss
no longer my lust
 
I's a bit slow
but stories...they do go
I's 'member the row-boat
―that train that could go
 
readin' fast and all
―grades began to fall
 
if they'd just let it be
I'd have straigh b's
 
now...it's only f's
behind...my skills was left
 
I's didn't make through the res'
all those long tes'
too much of a reading mess
 
this way...that way
wish someone had just say
leave it all be
she's fine you see

I know...I know
beings here on the street
isn't good fa' me
but the truth be
I's still there
enjoying reading
in second grade
with a b
Continue reading “‘Leave It All Be’”

‘The New Student’

The First Day of Class: They Sure Do Test Those Waters!

A sample from Book 4

 The New Student
 
as a teacher
I see life
in a different way
it’s not about me
and someone else
it’s about me
and the whole world
and how much
I can give
in a single day
 
I teach a different age—
an entirely different race
email, modems and chat rooms—
they don’t want me to lecture
just an enduring classroom
they’re welling to face
 
 but it’s all in my head
standing there
in a statue of voices
listening to the brains
that need to be fed
 
today
they are loud, uncaring, rude
the result of our government
and weak family link
the lack of paddles, rulers
disciplines rules to boot
 
they are given a choice—
I have to settle
they have summer school and g.e.d.—
I’m the school board’s fiddle
Continue reading “‘The New Student’”

Teachers Need More Money, Less Work!

A sample from Book 4…Exert From Chapter 7

Chapter Seven…More Money, Less Work

In 2005, hurricanes hit our region and we were forced to move back home. Weeks after the storms, parents of the New Orleans’ area were scrounging to get their kids back into school; at this point, any school, it didn’t matter where. Before we left in October of ’05, schools as far as Shreveport were overflowing with students from the Orleans’ area.

Continue reading “Teachers Need More Money, Less Work!”

‘Positive Notion’

Returning To the Classroom Over and Over!

A sample from Book 4

 Positive Notion
 
inside this head
things once bled
words said
things went dead
 
turning back a page
—a rethinking face
slow down the pace
reopen—
a closed space
reenter a once chosen race
 
wondering why I dread
—young minds fed
why I ran, fled
opportunities shed
for someone else's
weak thread
 
what I left to stagnate
it's not too late
—turning around this fate
see my place
young minds to lace
talent not to waste
comfortable—
not really safe
 
inside this head
I thee wed
untangle this cobbed web
—shake a leg
words left to be said
I'm not dead
there's still story
yet to be read
Continue reading “‘Positive Notion’”

‘Ignoring Secular’

Teach About Jesus! Please Do!

A sample from Book 4

 Ignoring Secular
 
demeaning the family
corroding society
dictating
educational responsibility
overshadowing parental vocality
 
secular taken the role
our children―
no longer do they grow
 
parents...listen!
retake your control
only through your soul
can your children grow
 
reject their way of school
Jesus†...your most powerful tool
make them drool
show them you're no fool
 
through Him† teach
ignore what they preach
your parent rights
there's no need to fight
 
for every christian
here's Jesus'† lesson
you're a guide to heaven
for all your children
 
teaching them at home
you're not alone
you're doing nothing wrong
 
put Christ†
back into your life
every husband
every wife
give your children
His† light
 
it is your responsibility
―against secular animosity
to teach christianity
Continue reading “‘Ignoring Secular’”

‘Transformative Change’

Educational Reform: Nothing New Has Happened!

A sample from Book 4

 Transformative Change
 
things are done with all good intentions
there goes
america's lack of education
 
in the year 2000
the dumbing down
continued its endless round
all have lost concern
going to school
meant...all children had to learn
      
all have forgotten
it's not easy to teach―
some are hard to reach
all have forgotten
teaching's not for pay
but to help our young
make their own way
 
over sixty percent
of this destructive wick
―those in poverty
couldn't read a single lick
forty percent of the same
abandoned
this education game
their reason―
not at all lame
their teachers no longer care
their parents not willing to bear
―to graduate
why even dare
―passing each grade
wasn't rare
 
pushing them up
―better for a teacher's cup
to end this sorrow
a new scenario
for america's tomorrow
―more american children
for a faster diploma flow
president george w bush
offered a texas push
 
no child left behind
his posted sign
his slogan and promise
to quickly diminish
 
too many chiefs
―round and round
goes the wreath
out went―
competition of the best
in came
a constant evolving mess
 
accountability―
a hypotheses of reality
failed quite miserably
this change―
under bureaucracy's rug
it was swept
 
parents having a right―
their child's mind
still behind
to a new school
they're free to go
this conceptional insight
in texas―
proved right
 
from 1994 to 1998
58 to 76 percent
―third graders
even with their grade-level line
proved bush's advocate
improved
school management
 
america's liberal kite
―their dumbing down bite
wedged their fight
 
endless control
endless laws
they sank their claws
getting their way
no matter
how many unconstitutional flaws
 
from the right to kill
an unborn child
mile after mile
idiots gone wild
without parental intervention
children can make
their own decision
straight to the clinic
abortion―right to take life
the way of hypocrites
their whining fit
 
young adults under seventeen
no more driver's license
wiping out privileges clean
before age of twenty-one
no more spirits
consumption undone
still...at eighteen
for freedom
they can kill...die
with a machine gun
 
liberals fighting to prove
before the age of twenty-one
not yet fully grown
young minds
must be given time
 
every young adult
they demand
must follow
their every plan
the diploma-for-ever-young-woman-and-man
became their cause
so here it goes
―the unseen blow
 
all those who can
―those above the slow-moving clan
forced to be equal
oh! so simple
all those
so bright―so smart
pinned down
with a liberal-halting dart
 
no child left behind
grew a different kind of vine
a simple concept
they could never accept
complication...their invention
instead of a parent decision
more controlling
by every administration
 
no more higher-order thinking
our school won't be sinking
 
federal money
will be our honey
began the lust
for higher ranking
now the threats
continued dumping down
liberals kept
just a new way around
bush's easy conception
every child will read
a forced liberal interception
the department of education
―bureaucratic corruption
forever changed america's direction
 
instead of increasing the minds of children
water-down test
we do confess
our scores
no longer in stress
teachers with high standard
once forced their students
moved constantly forward
instead of backward
with challenging assignments
single control of their classroom
instead of individual ways
doing what liberals say
 
teachers now burned
―lower your standards
slow down your pace
don't make it hard

so all can move forward
no longer I want to see
in your records

a failing grade
 
assignments not turned in
on a test...comes an f
on the teacher's back
their fault
threaten to be sacked
 
children who struggle
now are lovable
we don't want to see
them stumble

or you'll be in trouble
 
new kind of administration
teaching―
now a miserable occupation
 
now here comes
the liberal bureaucratic climax
to all this crap
the intelligent...held back
 
for the mentally challenged
we now clap
teachers stabbed in the back
no more play

at age three
school every day
gone school-yard recess
lunch now
a disciplining quest
 
equalism―liberal fascism
their hidden sarcasm
turned bush's
no child left behind
into an american education crush
 
their dumbing down scheme
moslem ideology
lurking behind the screen
thrives
as american freedoms
slowly die
leaving all
asking why
Continue reading “‘Transformative Change’”

‘To Save a Few’

Educating the Young: The Struggle Is Real!

A sample from Book 4

  To Save a Few
 
students we teach
―just want to guide them
set them assail
so they’ll flourish
never fail
but like a wooded trail
their path is blocked
their doors are closed
their heads are hard as rock
giving up...too lame
staying...sane
 
they’re from a flock of
I don’t give a damns
coming to a world of
I don’t understands
to help them is a curse
to ignore them...worst
 
you think you get in—
only an hour
they’re in your den
 
then they’re set loose
they’re heads’ in a noose 
 
if we could see
above their anger
wipe away all the danger 
 
if only to save a few
to wake up again
to the morning dew
 
 
Continue reading “‘To Save a Few’”

‘World Trade Center’

It Isn’t Just About Subject Matter!

A sample from Book 4

 World Trade Center
(Written September 11, 2001...the day it happened)
 
I don’t know much
all that financial stuff 
assumingly wall street
determines economy
burnt...crushed
what now
do they store records
someplace else
are they going to have to search—
a thousand shelves
are there companies
around the world
to figure out
all that wealth
 
what about they
aren’t the best
the brightest
of this finance world
at play
working
in the world trade center
every day
 
these buildings totally destroyed
all those lives
all that knowledge gone
what did survive
 
did they have a day-care center
did they sound a speaker
how many children were there
how many babies didn’t fare
burnt...crushed
what about ladies expecting theirs
burnt...crushed
what about the young men
not yet experienced enough
in life to care
their mothers waiting there
what about the elders
who hadn’t jotted down memories
that were rare
all that knowledge
burnt...crushed
 
Continue reading “‘World Trade Center’”

A First-Year Teacher’s Experience

A sample from Book 4: Exert From Chapter Three

[Book 4 was written in 2007-14.] A First-Year Teacher’s Experience. I was shown my classroom right off the bat. It was big but the teacher I was replacing left me nothing. Did you hear that? Nothing! There was a filing cabinet full of stuff—five drawers of it, and I had to go through it all.

Continue reading “A First-Year Teacher’s Experience”