Poets.org The 'Thing Dead on the Road Brian Gyamfi I'm afraid I was wrong about the world ending. The man sitting on the bench-is simply a man on fire. His fingers; reaching for solitude, something brief. The day becomes a sigh of pigeons digging For stones. I stand near the station Too sick to notice the bench—or the man—or fire Or whether I've been spared from grief. Even the roadkill, coveting concrete, stands And walks. Where are those left behind? I thought I knew something About Armageddon. I apologize, But when the world pauses, I will sing naked In the heat and grow a forest of sycamores. Who can survive an apocalypse And live? I made the roadkill a god But I'm not allowed to speak for god So I wait.

This poem by @briangyamfi.bsky.social breaks me and reminds me of one of our #PoemADayJuly poems!

@marcusluther.bsky.social
@thevogelman.bsky.social

All my friends from #PoemADayJuly, especially @marcusluther.bsky.social and @thevogelman.bsky.social

July 2025 Poetry Slow-Read with Marcus, Chanea and Brett Throughout the month of July we will be looking at a single poem each day on Bluesky, a “slow read” of sorts through a variety of poems that spark us in some way. Anyone is welcome to join in at any p...

#PoemADayJuly feels like a year ago way more than a month ago, right @thevogelman.bsky.social and @heymrsbond.com?

(Where did time go?)

docs.google.com/document/d/1...

I miss #PoemADayJuly 😭

@marcusluther.bsky.social
@thevogelman.bsky.social

I came home from work and sat down to read and annotate for #PoemADayJuly

And now I’m sad 😂😭
@thevogelman.bsky.social @marcusluther.bsky.social

This #PoemADayJuly is THE FIRST POEM my students analyze in Mrs. Bond's class.

Our community norms are born out of this poem. Because it's a big effin' deal, I made a video! Please let me know if this is helpful! Thank you @marcusluther.bsky.social @thevogelman.bsky.social 💙

youtu.be/W9FkIFF0E3k

"A Song from the End of the World" makes me think about humanity and our precious world.
Thank you for being there
Your students are very lucky to learn about Ars Poetica from you! #PoemADayJuly

Thank you @marcusluther.bsky.social, @heymrsbond.com, @thevogelman.bsky.social and so many others who participated sharing your thoughts and enthusiasm for poetry establishing a learning community to enjoy the experience together. Big Mad Love to All! #PoemADayJuly

1️⃣ "The Leash" by Ada Limón resonates
2️⃣ The experience was like Alberto Rios' poem "When Giving Is All We Have" --so enjoyed the intellectual, spiritual, and emotional adventure we all took w/the poems
3️⃣ Need to explore and read more poetry by Ada Limón and Li-Young Lee
#PoemADayJuly

I needed to take a social media break, but I didn't want to miss the final day of #PoemADayJuly

I didn't do many annotations because of time.

I notice possible references to "Ol' Man River."

I wonder about the use of colons.

What resonates is the need for connection.

July 2025 Poetry Slow-Read with Marcus, Chanea and Brett Throughout the month of July we will be looking at a single poem each day on Bluesky, a “slow read” of sorts through a variety of poems that spark us in some way. Anyone is welcome to join in at any p...

A final afternoon and evening set of questions for #PoemADayJuly (where did July go??)

⓵ Which poem resonated with you most?
⓶ What was the experience like for you?
⓷ What are you curious about going forward?

@heymrsbond.com @thevogelman.bsky.social

docs.google.com/document/d/1...

What a beautiful ending to our #PoemADayJuly!

Brooks in only a few words distills the central idea in her poem in that last magnificent sentence that begins, curiously, with the word “Warning.”

It’s a perfect example of how in poetry every word counts.

Thanks to all who joined this month🙏🏻

Annotations of "Paul Robeson" by Gwendolyn Brooks

Talk about legacies! A poet using her art to amplify the art, life, and message of another artist confirming her "magnitude and bond" to him and the rest of us, calling us to do the same with one another. Let us hear and internalize this call #PoemADayJuly

visual presentation of Paul Robeson

This year one of our class projects was to "visualize" a poem we had read (🙏 @thevogelman.bsky.social) and this was, of course, the example I provided:

#PoemADayJuly

intro image for "Paul Robeson" by Gwendolyn Brooks

full text of "Paul Robeson" by Gwendolyn Brooks

We began July with Gwendolyn Brooks and we are ending with Gwendolyn Brooks, too.

"Paul Robeson" — @heymrsbond.com's closing selection, but admittedly one that means A TON to me as well (it is in my bio!)

So, let's talk about a poem, one more time, for #PoemADayJuly

@thevogelman.bsky.social

I love this! As I’ve grown up, I’ve seen that holding the leash is a labor of love birthed out of fear.

Your student’s essay makes me wonder if those two things show up as equally important in my actions as they do in my own analysis of my actions…
#PoemADayJuly

“Isn’t there still / something singing? The truth is: I don’t know. / But sometimes, I swear I hear it”

Teaching is hope. Reading poems & ruminations with @marcusluther.bsky.social, @thevogelman.bsky.social, and you has been my something singing during these difficult days. 💛

#PoemADayJuly

“How can / you not fear humanity” is a question I ask myself every day as a human, parent, and a teacher. It’s a brutally raw feeling explored by Limón in several poems, but this one is DIFFERENT. The juxtaposition between the brutality and our desire to be and connect is painful.

#PoemADayJuly

I OVERstand why @marcusluther.bsky.social loves this so much.

MY GOODNESS, how this poem reminds me of being a teacher.

“until I yank the leash back to save her because / I want her to survive forever. Don’t die, I say.”

So much hope and heart and hurt in this poem.

#PoemADayJuly

This one may be my favorite for the month! Thank you to everyone who engaged in #PoemADayJuly! I gleaned so much from you all and added lots of poems to my poetry unit for this coming school year in AP Lit!

Annotations of Ada Limon's poem "The Leash."

A great poem! For me, this poem details how my brain & emotions work can hype up difficult times& negativity, my hope & idealism to make it better (dog), ultimately trying to find a middle ground to exist so the "But sometimes" of "hope and history rhyme" can occur. Apologies to Heaney #PoemADayJuly

Hearing Marcus think through our penultimate #PoemADayJuly is a gift.

I’ll just say that I love how this poem captures the sense of being propelled through a lot of chaos and unpredictability…life in our modern world. Yet as Limon opens so often do, it ends with a hopeful nod to human tenacity.

Also, I had big plans of having beautiful annotations like Chanea's video breakdown for this one but then I just ended up talking a lot about why I love it so much.

(And also why I have so much gratitude for #PoemADayJuly!)

www.youtube.com/watch?v=HnsI...

From the opening line, this #PoemADayJuly poem keeps going and going and really doesn't stop until its phenomenal, halting finish.

"The Leash" by Ada Limón has been a beacon in our classroom time and time again and I'm SO excited to share it today.

@heymrsbond.com @thevogelman.bsky.social

nothing more to say other than that I love how this poem seems to respond, and insist that it does respond, to so many of the darker and more weary poems of this month

"from wing to wing" is something I'm going to hold onto

🙏 @thevogelman.bsky.social #PoemADayJuly

Li-Young Lee — From Blossoms Can a memory of a beautiful day, with gorgeous peaches and companionship, be a place to return to, even on difficult days? Yes, the poem says, yes.

Finally, I listened to Pádraig Ó Tuama (swoon) read this poem and analyze it and it reminded me of how much I adore his voice AND Poetry Unbound. So grateful to @thevogelman.bsky.social for sharing and making us slow down and enjoy the peaches. onbeing.org/programs/li-...
#PoemADayJuly

3/3

Something I realized is how many poems read spicy, which isn’t to say we shouldn’t teach them, but I need to prepare my brain for how students may react, like the pear pear tree scene in TEWWG 😂😭

Earthy imagery can always be sexy, though. I love the focus on the small things. #PoemADayJuly

2/3

I cried reading this poem in the nail salon because what a beautiful, sensual, loving moment about the stages of life. A theme this month has been finding beauty in the seemingly mundane and “Of Blossoms” does this well.

The imagery reminded me of the poem “Tissue.” Connections! #PoemADayJuly

1/3

An infinity symbol that's electric in life

The infinity symbol materialized in my mind while reading this poem. Looking up the symbolism of "peach" learning that in Chinese culture it means "longevity and immortality." @thevogelman.bsky.social posits weaving as essential to this poem. Yes, to infinity and beyond! #PoemADayJuly