Poetry is not always pretty

Feelings are raw, and the words express this.

I cannot be politically correct when my students want to be heard.

Here are emotions that reflect 2 teenagers' perspectives:

"What a World!" O what a world we live in! Through years of anguish for many, No one deserves anything as simple as a penny! Out kind neighbors are being treated unfairly  by our meaningless grins! It's not just our neighbors, but the world for its race. We had the audacity to insult one another By their face or skin, yet we show kindness  to a related brother.  A brother who is similar to you  instead of a person with a different face. These people have feelings too  which the common man does not know. He pretends he is superior to all because of his skin, Yet, he may have committed more sin. How can we penetrate his icy heart without being slow? Does no person envision a future?  A future with people hand in hand and love at every corner. That all skins are equal instead of coming as a foreigner. A future where eyes meet  and no utter of cold can be hopefully sooner. Where my small heat is not hurt by an ignorant man, Because I'm not like him for any stupid reason, And he wants me gone as his treason. A treason of social justice  where any man for their skin is banned. So I say to you, Do you have a heart of stone  to hate your fellow neighbor? Because I'm hurt when you insult that colored man  when you have done no labor. Change your hearts for the better so no one has to rue. Hark! I hear the bells of brotherhood. Ring-Ring-Ring that sweet sound plays. But I start to hear it fade everyday. I want to hear those bells again  if we work together if we could. The sounds of bells can be upon us, If we put our petty differences behind us. Rahul Mannepuli

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Discrimination Equality that is what we shout for Brutality that is what we receive Beaten and killed Raped and hushed Black or white Woman or man The world laughs in our misery Suppressing our thoughts Suppressing our pain Killing us off like we are prey Watch what you do you already look suspicious Watch what you wear your body is already provoking They will kill you for being at the wrong place at the wrong time with your hoodie on They will take you for being walking these streets alone in your new pair of shorts You're asking for it when you dress like that when your skin is like that just because your hands were in your pockets or your top is a size too small Justice is what what you plead for a hand over your mouth is what the world gives you Andrea DeLeon'-Rivera ********************************************************************** THANK YOU, RAHUL AND ANDREA Let's all say our prayers.

You really won't believe what is underneath Bryant Park in Manhattan!

I'll tell you, but I'm getting ahead of myself....

I was in New York on Wednesday and my goal was the New York Public Library....

The GPS told us to turn up 41st Street, and as we did I noticed an interesting-looking bronze plaque on the sidewalk, which I of course read, and I saw another, and another, and I realized it was a thing!

It was this amazing path of awesome-ness...quotes from authors and poets all along the pavement leading up to the wonderful New York Public Library.

More about the library in a minute...I'll first share some plaques that my students may recognize from this year:

Jerome Lawrence and Robert E. Lee (authors of Inherit the Wind)

Ernest J

Hemingway

How can I not include Emily?

The library itself, known as the Stephen A. Schwarzian Building, houses collections in the humanities, social sciences, and fine arts. (There are 3 other buildings that focus on Black Culture, the Performing Arts, and Science, Industry, and Business.) It is part of a network including 88 neighborhood branches in the Bronx, Manhattan, and Staten Island. (Queens and Brooklyn have their own system---go figure!)

Marble, soaring arches, and colorful murals are everywhere.

Our tour took us to the Map Room, which has the largest public map collection in the world, including more than 10,000 maps of New York City alone.  In a different space one can view Columbus' 1493 letter announcing his discovery of the New World, as well as George Washington's original farewell address and Thomas Jefferson's Declaration of Independence. (When THAT leaves the library as part of an exhibit, it travels in an armed car!)

The Rose Main Reading Room is nearly the length of a football field.

 The interesting thing about this library is that you don't see people walking around with books. As a matter of fact, bags are checked before leaving to make sure you don't have a book....Why? This is a research library. All of the above items are available to view if you request them and they must be viewed on the premises.

And here is the amazing fact:

There are 3.4 million books and artifacts at this library. It has the capacity to hold 4.4 million (which may be an issue in about 8 years, because the library is always adding to its collection.)

WHERE ARE ALL THESE BOOKS KEPT?

YES...AS I ALLUDED TO IN THE TITLE.........

UNDERNEATH NEARBY BRYANT PARK!

Because of the limited space, the books are catalogued by size to make sure the everything fits utilizing space well. When items are requested inside the library, employees working beneath Bryant Park are gathering the books and sending them up in bins. The process takes about 40 minutes. The unsuspecting people eating ice cream, enjoying lunch, ice skating and listening to live music probably have no idea of the literary pursuit below them---I know I never did!

In New York City, one tends to look up, but I found out as I entered the building looking at the plaques, and as I left thinking about what lies beneath the park, that sometimes we need to keep our eyes focused all around!

I'll keep doing that for you.

Tomorrow is Stanza Saturday!

(poems from any readers accepted at any time.....)

My apologies to EMILY DICKINSON

(and to those who know her well).....

For the years I have read Emily Dickinson's poetry with my classes, I alway presented her one way; however, after my visit to the MORGAN LIBRARY in New York City, I have much that stands to be corrected!

Before I begin--some information about the Morgan Library. It is a beautiful structure built by Mr. Pierpont Morgan (1837-1913), an avid collector of literature, rare books, art, and music. His collection grew so much that he needed to construct a special library to house these works.

I visited to learn more about Emily Dickinson, and I not only learned more, but I gained a new perspective on this woman. I'll make it easy by breaking concepts down to what I believed (and therefore taught) to what I now know ( and am therefore teaching!)

Falsehood #1: The only portrait of Emily (as I'll refer to her from this point on) is the one in the above photograph. By the way, she is 16 in this picture. One class insisted that a classmate looked like Emily---the classmate was not happy with the comparison. (Message me if you know who that is or who you are....)

Truth #1: I viewed 2 other representations of Emily:

This is a portrait of her (left) and older brother Austin and younger sister Lavinia.

This is a picture of her and a girlfriend, Kate Scott Turner.

Falsehood #2: Emily was a goody-goody. (OK , I admit I never actually used those words in class, but I may have implied them.)

Truth #2 : She wasn't all that complacent in life. As a matter of fact, in her 1 year at Mount Holyoke Female Seminary (a rather strict religious facility if you didn't get that from the name) she was placed in a particular category. The college labeled the girls in 3 groups: "Saved"; "Some Hope"; "No Hopes".......Our Miss Emily fell into the last one.

Falsehood #3: Emily was a recluse---no friends.

Truth #3: She had many friends and enjoyed several close family relationships. She was particularly close to her sister-in-law, Susan, who was the recipient of many of Emily's letters and 252 poems. She was friends with the Bronte sisters. She was so friendly with Kate (pictured above) that she sent her a lock of her hair!

(There's that hair thing again---remember Poe?.......) Also notice that Emily's hair is a bright auburn, not the dark hair we normally picture.)

Falsehood #4: No boyfriends.

Truth #4: She had some crushes, and we have evidence. She wrote to some men she met in her travels (another falsehood, by the way--she traveled to both Boston and Philadelphia). She was often seeking literary advice from the men. She was even asked on a date...........

....to a CANDY PULLING event! Whoo Hooo! George Gould asked her to go see this candy being pulled. She not only saved the hand-written invitation, but she also wrote a poem on the back of it.

As it turns out, many of Emily's poems were written on the backs of envelopes, letters, programs. 

Falsehood #5: She did not have a desire to be published.

Truth #5: She had contacted a few people to mentor her, and she was looking for a male mentor in Samuel Bowles.  She contacted Thomas Wentworth Higginson in 1862 and sent him 4 poems. His response to her : "Work longer and harder." 

Well she took his advice because after her death in 1884 her sister found almost 1,800 poems. I imagine her going through her closet: "What do we have here? Oh my...so THAT's what Emily has been doing!"

Her sister knew they should be published, so she asked for help from Mabel Loomis Todd (her brother's mistress (!) They were published, but they were often heavily edited, changing words and punctuation. Titles were added also, which I'm sure Emily would not have liked.

The poem we read together in class, "I'm Nobody"

is an example of this change:

This is the original manuscript of "I’m Nobody! Who are you?"

I’m Nobody! Who are you?
Are you – Nobody – too?
Then there’s a pair of us!
Don’t tell! they’d advertise – you know!

How dreary – to be – Somebody!
How public – like a Frog –  
To tell one’s name – the livelong June –  
To an admiring Bog!

Emily originally wrote "Banish" instead of "advertise.

Interesting for my students reading Romeo and Juliet, she admired Shakespeare. She once said, "Why is any other book needed?" Maybe THAT'S why she liked the word "BANISH."

As I said before, Emily used whatever she could find to write her poems. While I was in the exhibit, I forget to bring my Moleskin tablet that my brother gave me as a sabbatical gift...so I used my admission ticket to take notes!

This is me channeling my inner Emily Dickinson.

The top left Program is hers; the orange and bigger white are my tickets/notes.

So once again, a public apology to Miss Emily Dickinson.

I assumed many things about her, and I needed to dig deeper.

Let that be a lesson to us all!

Coming up: You won't believe what is under Bryant Park in NYC....

SHARKS, CROCODILES, SPIDERS AND SNAKES ...AND AUSTRALIA

(Did that get your attention?)

Career Corner---calling all ANIMAL lovers!!!!!

BC Students-

It's not too early to start thinking about a topic you might want to explore for the 4th quarter research paper. Many many students through the years have expressed their desire to find a profession that somehow deals with animals.

This led me to contact Brett DePoister, another one of my Holy Guardian Angels students who also is a Central Graduate.

Brett now lives in AUSTRALIA

(no, I didn't go there, but maybe some day...)

but he kindly answered the questions I emailed him.

I was planning to paraphrase his responses, but he did such a wonderful job himself, I didn't feel the need to alter a word.

Here's Brett, and his interview:

1. First, what exactly were the animals that used to live in your bedroom at your old house?

This is not a very easy question to answer as there were many!  Anything that most people consider creepy and crawly was in my bedroom!  It all started when I was in kindergarten - with newts, which are aquatic salamanders from there the collection grew and I had iguanas, skinks, geckos, chameleons,  tarantulas, mud puppies, frogs, and the list goes on….  The collection got to the point where I literally had no room in my bedroom.  At one point I was sleeping on the couch in the living room because of such a large collection.  My very supportive parents allowed me to refurbish our basement into a “reptile and amphibian breeding facility” so I could return to my room!

2. When did you graduate from Central?

1999

3.What was the title of the science fair that led you to the National Fair? (Any details about that ....)

I attribute much of my success and where I am today to the required science fair projects at HGA and CCHS.  I embraced my love of frogs, interest in science, and school requirements to develop a research project that examined the world-wide problem of abnormalities in frog populations.  Ultimately frogs are like the canary in the coal mine, and they are bio-indicators of the environment. Large population declines and abnormalities (such as extra legs, not enough legs, multiple eyes, etc) were being found worldwide.  The cause was not known, in many areas pollution was suspected to be the problem. My parents were always supportive in my interests and at the age of 15 allowed me to travel to Australia by myself to work in a lab that was trying to discover what was causing these problems. During my stay there I developed my science fair project which received international attention:  presented at two International Science and Engineering Fairs, the Stockholm Junior Water Prize sponsored by the Royal Family of Sweden,  and the Intel Science Talent Search.

The title of my project was: “The effects of Zinc and Diazinon on the Embryonic Development of Xenopus laevis” Here I looked at two common environmental pollutants (zinc used in many industrial manufacturing products and batteries and diazinon is an insect killer) on the development of a frog – in summary they are bad!

4. Where did you attend college? Major? Year of graduation?

I attended Stony Brook University in New York on a full scholarship. My major was biology with a minor in neurobiology gained through completing research in nerve regeneration in zebra fish.  I graduated in 2003.

5. What was your first position after college?

Career choice after college was not a straight forward path.  During college I became involved in a start-up company that created customised software for science college professors and also provided tutorial services to college students. After I graduated, I put my love of animals on the back burner and devoted my time to this company. Entrepreneurship, the hope of being the next Google or Facebook and billions led me down a different path – the reality of working for a start-up company is long hours and depending on the funding no pay. I persisted for over three years, even working night jobs loading Fed Ex trucks to the pay the bills – there was always light at the end of the tunnel of making it big but we never got there. My, now wife, also worked for the company, when we were on our honeymoon we had a major life evaluation and decided to pull the plug on the start-up company.  My love of animals and science prevailed and I decided to apply for veterinary school – this too was not a straight forward path.  Long story short two months after our honeymoon we packed up our bags and dog and moved to Grand Cayman, Cayman Islands in the Caribbean to attend St. Matthew’s School of Veterinary Medicine. After a year of study and lots of SCUBA diving the opportunity to move to Australia arose and in 2008 I returned to Australia to study veterinary medicine at Murdoch University in Western Australia. 

6. I feel like you always knew what you wanted to "be" even in middle school...is that accurate? Is the position you have now close to what you envisioned?

I really am living the dream.  I always wanted a profession that I worked with animals, especially the unusual ones. My current role as a veterinarian for The Aquarium Vet allows me to look after and care for all of the animals that have been a lifelong fascination. 

7. (I'm getting a little ahead of myself). Where do you live now? For how long?

I currently live in Melbourne, Australia. I have been in Australia for just over nine years now.  I arrived on a student visa, after my wife completed her masters in Australia we qualified for permanent residency, and in 2016 my wife and I officially became citizens of Australia.   America and Australia relationship allows dual citizenship, so we are still also US citizens, along with our two children we have eight passports so when travelling I feel like we are in the Bourne Identity!  

8. Where do you work? What do you do?

I work for The Aquarium Vet and we provide to veterinary care to public aquariums, research facilities, and government controlled fish import facilities. I am primarily based at Sea Life Melbourne Aquarium in city centre Melbourne. 

9. Is there a typical day for you?

Driving into work I never know what my day is going to be like. At the aquarium I look after all the animals from small one inch fish, three metre sharks, our 16.5ft and 1700 pound saltwater crocodile, and king and gentoo penguin colony. Day to day I provide preventive medicine – i.e. keeping the animals nice and healthy and preventing disease.  I also play a role in maintaining the welfare for all the animals held in a captive environment. I am also involved in developing reproductive techniques in sharks – with the ultimate goal of protecting wild shark populations, which unfortunately are experiencing rapid population declines. I also look after and rehabilitate sea turtles that are found sick in the wild in Victorian waters. 

10.What is most rewarding about your job?

The most rewarding part of my job is helping the animals. At the end of the day that is why I went to vet school, directly related is educating the public. Many of the animals that I look after and love, are not perceived in the same way by the vast majority of the public. Sharks, crocodiles, spiders, snakes etc are such amazing creatures and are so important to our ecosystem. Teaching the public to appreciate these animals and protect the environment they live in is rewarding.  

11. What are the biggest challenges?

In vet school we received a very through education on how to treat a dog, cat, horse, cow, chicken, etc.  Treating animals outside of the norm comes with its own challenges – especially those that are not terrestrial and live underwater.  Aquarium vets are constantly presented with challenge that we need to come up with solutions.  Very often we cannot open up a textbook for the answer.

12. Do you envision something else in your future?

Nope.  I really am living the dream.

13.  How did you meet your wife? Where did you get married? Your children's names and ages?

I met Ada in college at Stony Brook University. We had mutual friends throughout school, but during our senior year we were in the same sign language class (language requirement) and the rest is history. She has been so supportive with my career path. She encouraged and supported our international moves while at the same time studied and worked on her own career – she received her masters and CA in accounting and now works in resourcing for an international accounting firm. We now have to children, Tyler – my birthday buddy (same birthday as mine) and will be three this year, and Viera is 1.5 years old.

14. Do you have any advice for students who want to explore your field?

Get involved. The animal industry as a whole is a very completive industry – there are a lot of people that want to work with animals. Veterinary school is very competitive, not only do you need the grades but you need to show initiative. Vet schools want candidates that have been involved – volunteer at your local veterinary clinic, wildlife rehab centres, participate in school projects.  Don’t look at the science fair as a burden – embrace it and come up with a project that you are passionate about!  

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I knew Brett since he was younger than you, freshmen. He really did know what he wanted to do even then. The lesson learned, obviously, is that you CAN achieve your dream. Notice his advice: Get involved, show initiative, volunteer, and see school projects as opportunities to learn.

THANK YOU ,BRETT DE POISTER FOR YOUR TIME AND WILLINGNESS TO SHARE....AND THE WORLD SHOULD KNOW---ONE OF THE NICEST, KINDEST GUYS I KNOW --- THOSE ANIMALS ARE LUCKY!