Spoken Words

The poem “The Crickets Have Arthritis” written by Shayne Koyczan is about a man who shares a room with a 9 year old boy who has cancer. This poem explains how a man feels about sharing a hospital room with a young boy with cancer.  “I manage a smile…and it feels like the biggest lie I’ve ever told” shows how the man can’t look and smile at his roommate without feeling guilty, because he knows that he will be here for a while.

 

The poem “Miracle Worker” written by Taylor Mali is about how he compares teachers to miracle workers.

As I shuffled into the classroom, I knew that Mr. Van Camp would never believe me. I looked at my scuffed shoes and mumbled, "My homework is not done, Sir. I do have a good excuse though."

       " This is not the first time your homework has not been completed. Perhaps," Mr. Van Camp suggested, "it's time to speak with your parents."

       "Please, you have no idea what will happen to me if you phone my home," I moaned. It looked as if he was going to fall for my story.

      "Well, let's hear your excuse. It better be good."

       “Okay, well Mr.VanCamp, the thing is if you call home my parents wouldn’t allow me to go back to Africa this summer. I need to go back this summer; my kids are waiting for me to come.”  I really hope this story will help convince him to not call home. He looked at me some doubt that this was the reason.

          “Also, our house is undergoing renovations at the moment, so our land line is disconnected. Everything is all over the place” I exclaimed, “I will have this assignment in tomorrow morning.”

          “Well, if you really wanted to go to Africa, wouldn’t you want to get your homework done right away so you can make that a possibility?” He didn’t seem, too impressed with my reasons. It seemed like he was expecting a grander reason then the one I have given him.

 

             "That is a very true Mr.VanCamp, but its hard to work when your work place isn't the neatest."

 

             "Yes, that is also a very good point Tessa, but you also have to make do with what you have." He explained as he walked over to his desk, grabbing a pen and a paper.

              What is going write down? Suddenly I got a nervous pit in my stomach. "Look, I understand that going back to Africa is important to you." Mr.VanCamp began to explain, "but passing my class should also be very important to you too."

 

            "Yes, sir, and it is important to pass your class." I exclaimed. It was very important to pass this class because I would like to graduate from high school the first time around. 

 

           "Then you need to hand in your homework on time." He voiced with a stern tone.

           

            "I will try my best to hand my work in on time for now on." I responded, and headed to my desk and took a seat. That class Mr.VanCamp assigned us homework, hopefully I can get this assignment in on time.