The results are devastating in terms of the betrayal of a generation of youth. The second is the direction our society has taken. The other is the perpetuation of a class system dividing an elite, nominally 'gifted' few, tracked from an early age, from a very large underclass essentially to be written off as alienated from language and science, from poetry and politics, from history and hope-toward low-wage temporary jobs. One is the development of a literate, articulate, and well-informed citizenry so that the democratic process can continue to evolve and the promise of radical equality can be brought closer to realization. "Universal public education has two possible-and contradictory-missions.
I was struck by many things that day, and eventually I wrote a poem to capture the moment (see below).Īs a poet, teacher, reader, and human, I have been deeply and permanently moved and changed by the poetry and essays of Rich, from the genius of "Diving into the Wreck" and "Aunt Jennifer's Tigers" to the reconsideration of Emily Dickinson in "Vesuvius at Home: The Power of Emily Dickinson" (see On Lies, Secrets, and Silence) to her remarkable and soaring Arts of the Possible, that includes one of the most cited passages in my scholarly works: Appropriately, Rich was reading from her upcoming collection, The School among the Ruins, and talking about teaching, teachers, and education.
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