Teaching with Fire

THE EDITORS Sam M. Intrator is assistant professor of education and child study at Smith College. He is a former high school teacher and administrator and the son of two public school teachers. He is the editor of Stories of the Courage to Teach and author of Tuned In and Fired Up: How Teaching Can Inspire Real Learning in the Classroom. Megan Scribner is a freelance writer, editor, and program evaluator who has conducted research on what sustains and empowers the lives of teachers. She is the mother of two children and PTA president of their elementary school in Takoma Park, Maryland. Royalties from this book will be used to fund scholarship opportunities for teachers to grow and learn.

"Teaching with Fire is a glorious collection of the poetry that has restored the faith of teachers in the highest, most transcendent values of their work with children...Those who want us to believe that teaching is a technocratic and robotic skill devoid of art or joy or beauty need to read this powerful collection. So, for that matter, do we all." - Jonathan Kozol, author of Amazing Grace and Savage Inequalities "When reasoned argument fails, poetry helps us make sense of life. A few well-chosen images, the spinning together of words creates a way of seeing where we came from and lights up possibilities for where we might be going...Dip in, read, and ponder; share with others. It's inspiration in the very best sense." - Deborah Meier, co-principal of The Mission Hill School, Boston and founder of a network of schools in East Harlem, New York "In the Confucian tradition it is said that the mark of a golden era is that children are the most important members of the society and teaching is the most revered profession. Our jour ney to that ideal may be a long one, but it is books like this that will sustain us - for who are we all at our best save teachers, and who matters more to us than the children?" - Peter M. Senge, founding chair, SoL (Society for Organizational Learning) and author of The Fifth Discipline T001 0787969702

• Gratitudes xiA Note to Our Readers by Sam M. Intrator and Megan Scribner xiiiIntroduction by Parker J. Palmer and Tom Vander Ark xviiHearing the Call 1Bob O’Meally’s “Make Music with Your Life” submitted by John J. Sweeney 2Marge Piercy’s “To be of use”submitted by Katya Levitan-Reiner 4Pablo Neruda’s “The Poet’s Obligation” submitted by William Ayers 6Gabriele D’Annunzio’s “I pastori”submitted by Susan Etheredge 8Emily Dickinson’s “The Chariot” submitted by Judy R. Smith 10Alfred, Lord Tennyson’s “Crossing the Bar”submitted by Marj Vandenack 12William Stafford’s “The Way It Is”submitted by Lisa Drumheller Sudar 14Walt Whitman’s Preface to “Leaves of Grass” [Excerpt] submitted by Lori Douglas 16Langston Hughes’s “Dream Deferred”submitted by Heather Kirkpatrick 18Marian Wright Edelman’s “I Care and I’m Willing to Serve”submitted by Linda Lantieri 20Cherishing the Work 23Billy Collins’s “First Reader”submitted by Sandra Dean 24Gary Snyder’s “Axe Handles”submitted by Curtis Borg 26David Whyte’s “Working Together”submitted by Jani Barker 28Marcie Hans’s “Fueled”submitted by Betsy Motten 30William Carlos Williams’s “The Red Wheelbarrow” submitted by Sarah Fay 32George Venn’s “Poem Against the First Grade”submitted by Theresa Gill 34Jeff Moss’s “On the Other Side of the Door”submitted by Lamson T. Lam 36Lydia Cortés’s “I Remember” submitted by Sonia Nieto 38Robert Frost’s “Nothing Gold Can Stay” submitted by Troyvoi Hicks 40Gary Blankenburg’s “The Mouse” submitted by Ellen Shull 42Lewis Buzbee’s “Sunday, Tarzan in His Hammock” submitted by Dan Mindich 44On the Edge 47John Milton’s “Paradise Lost, Book VIII” submitted by John I. Goodlad 48Stephen Sondheim’s “Children Will Listen”submitted by Don Shalvey 50Al Zolynas’s “Love in the Classroom”submitted by Ron Petrich 52Billy Collins’s “On Turning Ten”submitted by Chip Wood 54Li-Young Lee’s “The Gift”submitted by Kelly Gallagher 56Mary Oliver’s “The Journey”submitted by Marian Mesrobian MacCurdy 58Yehuda Amichai’s “God Has Pity on Kindergarten Children”submitted by Shifra Schonmann 60Jellaludin Rumi’s “The Lame Goat”submitted by Michael Poutiatine 62Linda McCarriston’s “Hotel Nights with My Mother”submitted by Wanda S. Praisner 64Lucile Burt’s “Melissa Quits School”submitted by Leslie Rennie-Hill 66Holding On 69Denise Levertov’s “Witness” submitted by Robert Kunzman 70Octavio Paz’s “After” submitted by Catherine Johnson 72Mary Oliver’s “Wild Geese”submitted by Elizabeth V. V. Bedell 74William Butler Yeats’s “Everything That Man Esteems”submitted by Betsy Wice 76May Sarton’s “Now I Become Myself”submitted by Amy Eva-Wood 78Annie Dillard’s “Teaching a Stone to Talk” [Excerpt]submitted by Libby Roberts 80David Whyte’s “Sweet Darkness” submitted by Jeanine O’Connell 82Rubin Alves’s “Tomorrow’s Child” submitted by Sarah Smith 84Donald Hall’s “Names of Horses” submitted by Laurel Leahy 86Judy Brown’s “Fire” submitted by Maggie Anderson 88Margaret Walker’s “For My People” submitted by Tracy Swinton Bailey 90In the Moment 93Elizabeth Carlson’s “Imperfection” submitted by Glynis Wilson Boultbee 94David Wagoner’s “Lost” submitted by Fred Taylor 96Wendell Berry’s “A Purification” submitted by Rick Jackson 98Marge Piercy’s “The seven of pentacles” submitted by Sally Z. Hare 100Pablo Neruda’s “Keeping Quiet” submitted by Catherine Gerber 102Gary Snyder’s “What Have I Learned” submitted by Perie Longo 104Wislawa Szymborska’s “There But for the Grace” submitted by Lesley Woodward 106Derek Walcott’s “Love After Love” submitted by David Hagstrom 108William Stafford’s “You Reading This, Be Ready” submitted by Lucile Burt 110Edgar A. Guest’s “Don’t Quit” submitted by Reg Weaver 112Making Contact 115Charles Olson’s “These Days” submitted by John Fox 116Donna Kate Rushin’s “The Bridge Poem” submitted by Debbie S. Dewitt 118Seamus Heaney’s “The Cure at Troy” [Excerpt] submitted by Jim Burke 120Virginia Satir’s “Making Contact” submitted by Dennis Littky 122John Moffitt’s “To Look at Any Thing” submitted by Angela Peery 124Jellaludin Rumi’s “Two Kinds of Intelligence” submitted by Marianne Houston 126Adrienne Rich’s “Dialogue” submitted by Adam D. Bunting 128Galway Kinnell’s “Saint Francis and the Sow” submitted by Libby Falk Jones 130Maxine Kumin’s “Junior Life Saving” submitted by Thomasina LaGuardia 132Gary Soto’s “Saturday at the Canal” submitted by Steve Elia 134Adrienne Rich’s “Diving into the Wreck” submitted by Penny Gill 136The Fire of Teaching 139Wislawa Szymborska’s “A Contribution to Statistics” submitted by Elizabeth Meador 140E.E. Cummings’s “You Shall Above All Things” submitted by Mark Nepo 142Mary Oliver’s “The Summer Day” submitted by Caren Bassett Dybek 144Ranier Maria Rilke’s “Archaic Torso of Apollo” submitted by Rob Reich 146Robert Graves’s “Warning to Children” submitted by Ali Stewart 148Wallace Stevens’s “The Poem That Took the Place of a Mountain” submitted by Samuel Scheer 150Langston Hughes’s “My People” submitted by Mary Cowhey 152nikki giovanni’s “the drum” submitted by Sam Grabelle 154nila northSun’s “moving camp too far” submitted by Tom Weiner 156Czeslaw Milosz’s “Gift” submitted by Suzanne Strauss 158T. S. Eliot’s “East Coker” submitted by Stephen Gordon 160Naomi Shihab Nye’s “Shoulders” submitted by Marcy Jackson 162Bettye T. Spinner’s “Harvest Home” submitted by Linda Powell Pruitt 164Daring to Lead 167Rabindranath Tagore’s “Where the Mind Is Without Fear” submitted by Tony Wagner 168Barbara Kingsolver’s “Beating Time” submitted by Susan Klonsky 170Thomas Jefferson’s “Passage from a Letter to William Charles Jarvis” submitted by Theodore R. Sizer 172Robert Herrick’s “Delight in Disorder” submitted by Edward Alan Katz 174Rainer Maria Rilke’s “I Believe in All That Has Never Yet Been Spoken” submitted by Tom Vander Ark 176Langston Hughes’s “Mother to Son” submitted by Joe Nathan 178nikki giovanni’s “ego-tripping” submitted by Janice E. Jackson 180Anne Sexton’s “Courage” submitted by Wendy Kohler 182William Stafford’s “Silver Star” submitted by Jay Casbon 184Walt Whitman’s “Crossing Brooklyn Ferry” [Excerpt] submitted by Sandra Feldman 186Vaclav Havel’s “It Is I Who Must Begin” submitted by Diana Chapman Walsh 188Marge Piercy’s “The low road” submitted by Parker J. Palmer 190Tending the Fire: The Utility of Poetry in a Teacher’s Life by Sam M. Intrator 193About the Courage to Teach Program 213The Contributors 215The Editors 225