"Red Banks," [Wisconsin] Denise Sweet

Author: Denise Sweet

1 additions to document , most recent over 2 years ago

When	Why
Nov-12-21	week4

for the Ho-Chunk Nation

I. Beauty at its best is undisturbed in winter
the white wings of ice and snow
wrap round this forest without
so much as a whisper

The dry oak savanna fills and fills
without warning, without witness
and then one day we are buried
in our own mock amazement—

Where did all this snow come from?

as though drifts of snow and slates of ice
would not be here had we paid attention
had we not slept through the howl of storm
or let go of the rope that tethers us to autumn.

II. I wander through the wooded corridor of Red Banks
surrounded by silver maple, poplar, birch
the slender red cedar stemming skyward,
left to plod and stammer through drifts

of snow with no tracks to follow, no maps
with arrows or stars, marking the spot
on which I stand—

You are here

The sky is all I recognize. The star stories
and legends of naked-eye astronomers
anishinaabe adisokan1 begins to stir and whisper
and the names sway within the wind.
In my third season, I have finally learned
to be still. In my third season, I have finally learned to wait.

III. The People of the Thunders had gathered round
the strangers at this inland shoreline,
the one spoke with great eloquence,
with grand gesture in a splendid robe
ornate with feather stitches, folds of satin
those who could throw lightning with their hands
and split the sky with such report. We could not
remember hearing such puny voices, such noise.

IV. A red-tail hawk follows my curious wandering
Beyond this wooded stretch is a highway and
the distressed sound of 18-wheelers and SUVs
sail through this moment towards an urgent other place
wholly unaware of the slow searing sound of a hawk
or the mincing steps of a white-tail deer before
she leaves the wooded grove, before she races
frantically, back and forth, and then
across the highway into an open field
or another quiet stand of trees.

taku skan skan (2): what moves, moves. Like
a star story sweeping through the sky, there
is this change in the weather, a pure
sound pouring over the heart of Red Banks
the origin of thunder, here to be remembered.

1 ANISHINAABE ADISOKAAN: THE PEOPLE’S STORIES
2 TAKU SKAN SKAN: “WHAT MOVES, MOVES.” A LAKOTA STATEMENT DERIVED FROM STELLAR EXPERT KNOWLEDGE.

DMU Timestamp: May 31, 2018 00:33

Week 4 Assignment-

I would have really enjoyed this assingmnet for LRNG if the technology was not so increbly confusing and frustationg to use. To start with the positives; I thought the use of annotating a “mentor poem”, for its liiteraly and poetic menaing was a way to engage with the writing and how it applies to the actual crirculum. Making it more than just “hey read this poem this stranger wrote, and have a quiz on it” that is the usual approach for language arts assingmnets. Having the annotations be public gave some accounatblity for what was being commented; public comments reqire more responsibility form the comentor, what was being said had to be correct, applicable, and meaningful in the critique of the writing. This acted as a quiz itself, answering the questions: does the student understand imagery, rhythm, metaphorical speech, and abstract understanding through poetic comprehension? Depending on the grade that is being taught, this assingmnet would have to be for older children, the ablity to understand and engage in abstract concepts as a whole begins around age 12 and continues through puberty. This is a devolopmnetal milestone that may be to advanced for elembetry students but having it as an option for more advanced learnes could be benifical.

Secondly, the use of creativity as it pertains to the individual students in was refreshing. The assingmnet of write your own poem about a place you love, gave a lit of fredoom to explore how to write a poem

DMU Timestamp: November 08, 2021 21:20

Paragraph 1 (Video 1) 0

No video-level conversations. Start one.

Whole Video 0

No video-level conversations. Start one.

Paragraph 2, Sentence 1 0