new perspective

today i went to poetry class expecting the same old thing...
the professor, who i don't really care for,
a few students who i do care for, a few i'm indifferent to,
all sharing our poems looking for feedback and ideas.

but as the class filed in, we noticed we had a substitute.
i got really excited because last time we had a substitute, i loved him.
and i loved the new sub too!!
his name is professor Santos.
he seemed a little kooky, a little odd.
but just strange enough to be brilliant.

"today," he said,
"we are going to do an exercise.
i am going to hand out a poem,
you will get into small groups of 3 or 4
and discuss the poem within your group for
15 minutes. then, we will come together as a class,
and talk about our interpretations together."

most people seemed perplexed.
thinking for oneself? how does one go about that?
it's a trait everyone should have.
my group thought the poem was about breast cancer,
and terminal illness.
the biography of the author stated
that she is a lesbian writer
who writes about aids, her struggles with cancer,
and her life in new york and france.

another group thought it was literal.
that the poem was about wanting what you can't have.
another girl thought love.
another boy thought the poem wasn't a poem at all (don't ask...)
and others thought it was about living your life
and not about death or wanting at all.

we converged as a class.
prof. Santos asked the other groups one by one
what they thought it was about.
and it turns out,
2 groups had the poem but no title/biography.
1 group had the title and poem but no biography.
my group had the title AND the biography.
and in the end, it hindered us.
we focused so much on relating the poem to her life
that we didn't see the bigger picture.
she wasn't saying she was dying,
she meant that she was L I V I N G.

so, in other words, different additions can add to
one's interpretation of a poem or piece of writing.
i thought it was such a helpful exercise,
and i walked away with a new perspective on poetry,
and its meaning to people.

in my opinion, a poem means one thing to the author, another to teachers, another to each reader. 1 poem can have hundreds of meanings ranging from literal to abstract. and thats just what i LOVE about poetry. it really, really is.


thank you prof Santos