Jan Owen, "First Love"

Titian’s Young Englishman with a Glove, circa 1530

It happened in Physics,
reading a Library art book under the desk,
(the lesson was Archimedes I recall)
I turned a page and fell
for an older man, and anonymous at that,
hardly ideal-
he was four hundred and forty five,
I was fourteen.
“Eureka!” streaked each thought
(I prayed no-one would hear)
and Paradise all term
was page 179
(I prayed no-one would guess).
Of course
my fingers, sticky with toffee and bliss
failed to entice him from his century;
his cool grey stare
fastened me firmly in mine.
I got six overdues,
suspension of borrowing rights
and a D in Physics
but had by heart what Archimedes proves.
Ten years later I married:
a European with cool grey eyes,
a moustache,
pigskin gloves.

Han Yu, "Losing My Teeth"

Last year a tooth dropped,
this year another one,
then six or seven went fast
and the falling is not going to stop.
All the rest are loose
and it will end when they are all gone.
I remember when I lost the first
I felt ashamed of the gap.
When two or three followed,
I worried about death.
When one is about to come loose,
I am anxious and fearful
since forked teeth are awkward with food,
and in dread I tilt my face to rinse my mouth.
Eventually it will abandon me and drop
just like a landslide.
By now the falling-out is old hat,
each tooth goes just like the others.
Fortunately I have about twenty left.
One by one they will go in order.
If one goes each year,
I have enough to last two dozen years.
Actually it does not make much difference
if they go together or separately.
People say when teeth fall out
your life is fading.
I say life has its own end;
long life, short life, we all die.
People speak of the gaps in my teeth,
and all gaze at me in shock.
I quote Zhuangzi's story –
a tree and a wild goose each has its advantages,
and though silence is better than slurring my words
and though I can't chew, at least soft food tastes great
and I can sing out this poem
to surprise my wife and kids.

Sharon Olds, "Topography"

Nick Flynn, "Cartoon Physics, part 1"

Today: a currently post, a response if you have anything to say about your reading recently, and
submit your week #3 goal to my class homework folder. Make sure your filename reads "lastnameLIST" and that the file includes just your theme, a list of five poems + authors, and claims for two of those poems.

After you complete those steps, begin work on the partial editor's note draft that is due next Wednesday. Look at the annotated sample editor's note on the class notes page for ideas and an explanation of the intro paragraph.

And think about showing me some of your work. Between now and Thanksgiving, I need you to bring me at least one paragraph of your draft editor's note during class so that we can discuss ways to make it stronger. These conferences are worth a grade, so you're basically getting points just for asking for help.

So, work well today, and have a nice weekend.

Linda Pastan, "To a Daughter Leaving Home"

Shinkichi Takahashi, "Burning Oneself to Death"

That was the best moment of the monk’s life.

Firm on a pile of firewood

With nothing more to say, hear, see,

Smoke wrapped him, his folded hands blazed.

There was nothing more to do, the end

Of everything. He remembered, as a cool breeze

Streamed through him, that one is always

In the same place, and that there is no time.

Suddenly, a whirling mushroom cloud rose

Before his singed eyes, and he was a mass

Of flame. Globes, one after another, rolled out,

The delighted sparrows flew round like fire balls.

For a sample response to this poem, see the file on our Notes page.

Today, some class notes first:

1. From here on out, this class is self-directed. How you use your time is up to you so long as you are engaged in a some activity in pursuit of one of your class goals: The Anthology Project, your Moleskine collection, Independent Reading, Vocabulary. Consider visiting the sample editor's note on the class notes page.

2. For our week #3 goal, I would also like you to include working claims for two of those five poems. Please submit these to my homework folder "Week #3 goal--lists and claims" and use the filename "lastnameLIST."

3. Finish strong with your reading and blogging. We will conclude our blogging expectations at the end of next week, Friday 11/11.

Brian Turner, "Here, Bullet"

If a body is what you want,
then here is bone and gristle and flesh.
Here is the clavicle-snapped wish,
the aorta’s opened valves, the leap
thought makes at the synaptic gap.
Here is the adrenaline rush you crave,
that inexorable flight, that insane puncture
into heat and blood. And I dare you to finish
what you’ve started. Because here, Bullet,
here is where I complete the word you bring
hissing through the air, here is where I moan
the barrel’s cold esophagus, triggering
my tongue’s explosives for the rifling I have
inside of me, each twist of the round
spun deeper, because here, Bullet,
here is where the world ends, every time.