Hello, and welcome to our final class!
"What? Our final class?!"
"Of COURSE, the Summer Solstice! ...This is our last day and this class isn't offered in the summer."
"Oh, NO! Already?? But we just started having FUN!"
"This was the only class I ever had that WAS fun!"
Teacher: How interesting... To think this was the same class that didn't even want to BE here after Spring Break!
Student: Well, I... Uh...
Teacher: It's quite alright. I think we've ALL learned by now that it takes time to figure out how to have a good time... And just when you START to have a good time, something comes along to ruin it!
"EXACTLY! Just like the 2020 shutdown! It couldn't have come during the DIFFICULT school years when we NEEDED a shutdown vacation, COULD it?"
"No! It HAD to come at the worst time and ruin the BEST years of our entire lives!"
"It's BEEN years already! ...Though it doesn't FEEL like years."
"Time has never been the same on us since that dreadful year..."
"What does it all matter though?! What's done is done! There's nothing we can do about it now."
There is ONE thing you can do: Use your grievances and your strong sense of justice to write a beautiful poem that will make others laugh or cry, or BOTH!
...And THIS final poem is a grand example.
Du Fu Falls off his Horse- By Du Fu
The governor’s old friend Mr Du
Had eaten well. The wine was strong,
And when I'd had a drink or two,
My ceremonial pike I drew,
And bawled an old-time song.
I called my horse and suddenly My youth came flooding back to me. The horse's hooves went flying free,
They scattered Qutang stones and scree,
I rode triumphantly!
Above the clouds, above the river,
The gates to White Emperor Town.
My body crouched down in a sliver,
The horse galloped to deliver
Eight thousand feet straight down.
Those crenellations white as snow,
The flapping, snapping reins of red,
A lightning bolt in purest flow,
We burst from the cliff to the plain below-
I gave the horse her head.
Each river town and lonely shack
Came streaming past my speeding eyes,
The whip and bridle hanging slack, We charged along that royal track,
Just gripping with my thighs.
Ten thousand people gaped in awe
To see this mounted white-hair coming,
And I recalled my days before
(You don't forget the nock and draw)
My hunting bow was thrumming!
I left our path to the horse's care, She chased the wind, her hooves were quick,
Vermillion sweat on sable hair,
And nostrils pluming jade in the air,
But how could I predict?
She'd trip and buck, a catapult.
I came down hard, a sorry case.
Life picks its moment to insult
And just as you in joy exult
Blows raspberries in your face.
So now I play the invalid,
All pale I faint on my divan,
My groans especially warranted
By the harm the years did,
A poor old man I am!
Your visit stopped my sad decline.
A brave smile on my suffering face,
I heaved myself up, stick and vine,
And leaning on this boy of mine,
Bid welcome to my place.
I spoke my lines and you replied—
I broke the solemn courtesy
By giggling so hard that we cried,
"Let's picnic by the riverside!
Your arms to steady me."
The wines! The meat! Another trolley!
Take more or risk my disapproving.
The string quartet's too melancholy,
Break out the pipes! Play something jolly
And get these old bones moving!
When finally the setting sun
Ignores our protests, will not shine,
We cheer the end of drinking fun
And from our upturned beakers run
The final drops of wine.
Friends, you rode to nurse and nourish—
You should think twice, you should think double. I'll finish with a historical flourish:
Xi Kang wrote a whole book on this stuff, And he got his head chopped off for his trouble!
-CITATION:
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Teacher: In my opinion, this poem is poetry at its very best, for it highlights not only comedy and tragedy, but also nostalgia and adventure, as well as living life to the fullest.
Student: Hey... That's all the stuff POPTROPICA used to highlight!
Teacher: Yes... And if you still have grievances over Poptropica, you could write poems about that, too... After all, poetry isn't just another english class. It's a medicine and a therapy that can help anyone like you and me with anything you might be struggling with.
BRINNNNNNGGG!!
I'm afraid that's the end of our final class. Adieu, adieu! Parting is such sweet sorrow, but the Fall Semester will be here before you know it! ...So until we meet again, class!
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