As an undergraduate lit major, I read a lot about iambic pentameter. Ten beats per line, alternating weak with strong:
weak strong weak strong weak strong weak strong weak strong
Shakespeare’s sonnets and much of his dramatic works are in iambic pentameter. People say it resembles the thuh–THUMP sound of a beating human heart.
When I was diagnosed with Parkinson’s, I started writing sonnets, thinking “if not now, when?” I thought I’d write a sonnet for the 5th Grade students who are graduating from my school (the Bronx Charter School for Better Learning) next week, but I found I couldn’t fit all I wanted to say in the traditional sonnet’s 14 lines. So I forged ahead and came up with the following long poem, all in iambic pentameter.
I present it here. To understand what I mean about “rainbow-colored words” for learning to read, and the colored rods for learning math, view the first video about our school, below. I added the second video about our school because it’s fun.
Now, the poem:
How Do You Say Goodbye to BBL?
How do you say “goodbye” to BBL?
You don’t. You take it with you. When you’ve gone
To middle school, then high school and beyond,
It sticks with you to make sure you do well.
The years you spent here learning how to read
With rainbow-colored words that helped you crack
The strangely-written code that’s so jam-packed
With weirdness, children elsewhere might stampede
Away, in flight from such tyrannical
Attacks on common sense. And yet, you learned
With ease and joy, and now are unconcerned
When you see spellings enigmatical.
And how about that math? Those mounds of rods,
The multi-colored staircases you built –
The towers – trains – the patterns like a quilt:
Your test scores rank you high as demigods
Compared to other children in the state
Who studied math the “normal” way and failed
To score high. They floundered but you nailed
The exam each year. We cheered, “That’s great!
And so are you!” And so it went! With gym,
With music, and with art. With Social Studies,
Science, and with chess. And with your buddies –
Her and them and him and her and him –
You grew your minds, your bodies, and your hearts.
You made friends on the playground and at lunch.
Next year, at middle school, I have a hunch
You’ll make new friends among your counterparts
Who come from other schools around New York.
Three months from now, you’ll read much more non-fiction,
In Math you’ll learn statistical prediction,
In Science there’s the sub-atomic quark,
And, too, the concept that most substances
Expand in heat and shrink in cold, except
For water, which, you know, expands if kept
In freezers or in similar (“sim’ler”) circumstances.
You’ll zoom ahead, while BBL remains
Right here, across the street from Seton Falls,
The lovely park where folks smack tennis balls,
And monarch butterflies, like aeroplanes,
Touch down in open fields for some rest,
Then fly away to meet their destinies.
And like them, you’ll depart, as VIPs –
Your smarts and know-hows clearly manifest.
So have fun learning esoterica!
Your teachers and the staff at BBL
Know – expect – are certain you’ll excel
As future leaders of America!
– Bruce Ballard
Our school’s two videos:
