Practical Haikus using the Nazis to Describe Your High School

Last fall, I attended a poetry slam, where one of my seniors wrote a poem about her school day. One line that stuck with me: “This place is like a concentration camp.”

What a brilliant comparison. Incisive, historically contextual, revelatory. However, I figured she might need a little guidance if she’s truly found her vocation of Full-Throated Poet for a Generation, so I wrote her some verses designed to show how it’s really done.

My high school is a
school, a place where I learn skills.
Just like the Nazis did.

Oh man. This class sucks.
We have homework? Hey, teacher?
Hitler gave homework.

I just studied the
history of Auschwitz, and
I got déjà-vu.

School is so tragic,
The death, the pain and suffering.
The Holocaust, too.

I hope she appreciates this. She hasn't even thanked me yet.

A sad, miserable student. Comparisons between 

her situation and Auschwitz are inevitable.

Preliminary Post

Not to add to the clutter on the web, but to get things started, here's a video one of my students made of Hamlet a couple years back. For the record, it was extra credit. For the record, there's more bloopers on Youtube than actual video. For the further record, when you watch the bloopers, you can hear a kid I don't know mutter, "Eat me, Long." Good times.

gjl