A Piece Of Chalk Poem by prasanna kumari

A Piece Of Chalk

Rating: 4.8


A lesson on ‘Grass’ I teach
They don’t understand- my children
Blank, questioning looks-enquiring....

They look at me and the blackboard....
A blackboard with no writing
And a teacher without a piece of chalk
Both blank and empty.......

I crave for a piece of chalk
A piece of chalk in my hand
That binds me and my children

I write.........letters
White letters against blackness
Doesn’t it look silvery...?
That shines.........
Shines in the darkness of my life

The letters fill the blackboard
The children stare at that...

Do they understand......?
-that they fill the pages of my life
Do they understand.......?
-that what I teach should fill the pages of their life

Do they understand......?
We stamp on grass and say ‘O, grass! worthless’
But they smoothen the thorny path of our life
Grass-‘ The living garment of God’- to Goethe
And ‘ a scented handkerchief with God’s signature’ to Whitman
Green, young and life-giving
A mediator between man and earth
To protect earth from barren, rocky nothing

Oh! A girl dozing in my class
A piece of chalk on her
Like my teacher did long time back
To awaken her to reality

I write.......words
Words for my children to internalize
Words that contain a world of passion
Words to excite and entice
Words to order and obey
Words to utter and abuse
Will my children abuse with the words I teach
That will bring a tear in many eyes

Words of success and defeat
Words that breathe, words that boast
Words that talk, words that walk
Words that gallop, words that fly
Will my children sing songs with my words
That will make many minds to dance

Words of will and wish
Words of love and hate
Will they use these words to hate
That will bring conflict in their life

Words of comfort and console
And The Bible said ‘The word was God’

Can I make them understand....?
Like black and white, day and night
Is sorrow and happiness-intermingling
We can’t escape........
That blackness makes whiteness brighter
That ecstasy makes agony enduring
And agony makes ecstasy fulfilling

Now children.........
Go out and absorb colours from nature
Blue from the ocean, azure from the sky
Green from the leaves, yellow and brown too....
Rose, violet and lily will fill your life with colours
The colour of twilight need not dishearten you
For there is a day after every night

Oh! it fell down......
A piece of chalk
I should not stamp on it
I need it for tomorrows’ children
And for ME

COMMENTS OF THE POEM
Jona Polo-Ramirez 05 January 2007

Very profound. Great poem! I can certainly connect to it. Keep writing. JPR

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rajagopal haran 01 January 2008

teacher /teaching has always been my favourite subjects; ....written nicely

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Sreelekha Premjit 02 March 2008

Yes, I read your wonderful poem. Says a lot about the involvement of a teacher to who she teaches and what.... a beautiful poem. thanks.

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Usha Pisharody 07 April 2008

Thank you, first of all, for directing me here. Wouldn't have wanted to miss such a pertinent theme, or a well crafted poem! From the blade of grass [Reminds me of Brian Patten's poem, Blade of Grass, a favourite :) ], to the chalk and board, to the children, to words and finally to the place where learning must come from, Nature... The progress was so natural and unforced! I really enjoyed reading this one!

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Reshma Ramesh 27 October 2008

nice and a different write........well done

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Geetha Jayakumar 08 July 2014

Hats off to you the teacher. So many things you taught us with a piece of chalk. I think I should rewrite my poem Chalk. No points I covered in it......Smiles...... I loved reading each lines and you captured all the points which a chalk could cover...thanks for sharing with us. Loved it.

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Captain Herbert Poetry 27 April 2014

an heroic educator of children. I salute this poem

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V P Mahur 30 March 2014

dear Prasanna, Very sweet and nice feel of deep affection and care for children. Unique imagery. Thanks for your comments on my poem. Keep in touch and keep reading

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Dr, Moula Devi 15 March 2014

The colour of twilight need not dishearten you For there is a day after every night confident building words for a hopeful tomorrow. Hats off teacher

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Veeraiyah Subbulakshmi 10 February 2014

lots of messages and dreams...beautiful poem. thank you for sharing, Prasanna Kumari..

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