© 2010 Don Yorty. All rights reserved.
When I first met Rich, the summer of 2008, I thought she was very shy, but I also knew she was confident enough to give me a poem she had written for a class assignment. Like most of my … Continue reading
© 2010 Don Yorty. All rights reserved.
It is so hot before you run you sweat. Fanning himself a man and his wife walk Holding hands. He sings and she doesn’t with Just as much force. It’s dawn. The lighter it Gets the more the runners … Continue reading
© 2010 Don Yorty. All rights reserved.
… One way for an ESL teacher to get students to write in English is to have them translate a poem they know from their own language. Iris was in my poetry workshop summer of 2010. She introduced me to … Continue reading
© 2010 Don Yorty. All rights reserved.
Every country has its radicals, thank goodness, most within a stone’s throw, and if you look, you will find them, like the truth. Even radicals can be in love, and feel its pangs, and write about it. Di Wu … Continue reading
© 2010 Don Yorty. All rights reserved.
… The six photos above were picked at random. I first picked 13 because 13 is one of my favorite numbers, then I flipped a coin, tails (odds) and heads (even) to eliminate either 6 or 7 of them. It … Continue reading
© 2010 Don Yorty. All rights reserved.
… Eden is my youngest student. She is 15 and still in high school. Like many 15 year olds, Eden is a joy: every moment is something new. I showed the class a poem by the poet Alice Notley called … Continue reading
© 2010 Don Yorty. All rights reserved.
A poem in English written by someone whose first language isn’t English is often very beautiful with other skin over its bones. Like many of my students in China, Nicolas is a scientist. He’s going to Paris soon to … Continue reading
© 2010 Don Yorty. All rights reserved.
… This little poem with the fewest words possible says it all. … You see it raining and rushing Like beasts, and roaring You tremble at it and pray It keeps on pouring. … … Continue reading
© 2010 Don Yorty. All rights reserved.
… Today it started to rain and thunder and then it stopped. After class, puddles were everywhere as I walked to my favorite restaurant. It was closed. For good. The man keeping guard in the gutted space spoke Chinese of … Continue reading
© 2010 Don Yorty. All rights reserved.
… Grass, flowers and some tiny trees have grown through all the cracks and crevices of the bleachers on the Olympic Field. What does this mean? That no one sits here anymore to watch a game? If I had more … Continue reading
© 2010 Don Yorty. All rights reserved.
… Good morning. I am in Wuhan, China at Wuhan University teaching American Cultural Studies and a workshop on English poetry, or I should say poetry that is written in English. I am planning to write daily (or almost daily) … Continue reading
© 2010 Don Yorty. All rights reserved.
… News in the world seems pretty bad these days, but spring is coming here to the South Mountain. Not really any blossoms yet, but there are some hard buds on the tips of the branches. No dandelions to dig … Continue reading