Laura Purdie Salas

Small Reads for Brighters Days

  • Email
  • Facebook
  • LinkedIn
  • Pinterest
  • RSS
  • Twitter
  • YouTube
  • Home
  • Laura’s Books
  • Poetry
    • Poems Published Elsewhere
    • My Poetry–a Sampler
    • Poetry Videos
    • How To Write Poetry
      • Poetic Pursuits
  • For Teachers
  • Presentations
  • Freelancer
  • About
    • Press Kit
      • Short Bios
      • Awards & Honors
      • Author Photos
      • Book Covers
      • Book Reviews
      • In the Press
    • Who Am I?
    • How I Became a Writer
  • Blog
    • Review Policy
  • For Writers
You are here: Home / Poems for Teachers / Poetry Friday: Without Rancor (an original poem)

Poetry Friday: Without Rancor (an original poem)

September 18, 2009 By Laura

 

I took a wonderful poetry class at the Loft in Minneapolis last spring. One of our exercises was to write a poem with the word "rancor" in the title. Most of my poems are NOT actually about my personal experiences, though people often think they are. But for this assignment, I thought of my childhood, how I hated living in my parents’ house and moved out at 16, and how glad I am that my parents and I have some small common ground to have a decent long-distance relationship now. And I wanted to play around with a few different ways of putting the word rancor into a poem through endings of lines connecting to beginnings of following lines. Here’s the draft I wrote:

Without Rancor

Now that we are both adults
we can live without the rancor

of imbalance,
without rank

or status to give you power
over the books I read,

hiding Flowers for Algernon
in the file cabinet among real estate papers.

Without the limit of 5 hours of TV weekly,
charted on the refrigerator.

As a grown-up
I can rot my brain as much as I want.

Now I send you Benny Hill DVDs.
I wonder, do you chart your own TV hours?

I don’t want the
power nor the unpower.

I don’t want to perch on
one side of a scale, seeing who rises higher

whose worth hangs heavier.
I remember days when your words ran

currents through the house,
wafted up through the a/c vents,

and my sisters and I
lay with our ears pressed to registers,

waiting for cold metal secrets,
then wishing for deafness.

Now, I am content to share
a phone call every few weeks

where our conversation floats like
a small, yellow life-raft on a sea of rancor.

–Laura Purdie Salas, all rights reserved

The Poetry Friday Roundup is at Becky’s Book Reviews! Go add some poetry to your day:>)

Just a reminder about Nikki Grimes’ haiku contest on Facebook, too. Check it out here.

And if you’re a fan of lovely rhyming nonfiction (I am), don’t miss my post from earlier this week featuring Heidi B. Roemer’s latest book, Whose Nest Is This?

Tagged With: Laura's poems, Poetry Friday, teen/adult poems

Share:

  • Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)
  • Click to email a link to a friend (Opens in new window)
  • Click to print (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window)
  • More
  • Click to share on Pinterest (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Tumblr (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Reddit (Opens in new window)

Related

« Tools I Use: Clocking in with Slimtimer.com
On the Road: Opposite Storytimes »

JANUARY NEWS

I loved the holidays! And I'm so glad they're over. A quiet, snowy January is just what I need. This month, I'm working on two board book manuscripts, and I'm making materials to go with my 3 spring 2023 books.

I'm also busy prepping for upcoming author visits and setting my goals and priorities for 2023. Wishing you a lovely start to your own new year!

Are You Looking For…?

  • Poems for the Classroom
  • Poetryactions
  • 15 Words or Less Poems
  • Poetry Activities for Teachers

Tags

15 Words or Less Poems 30 Painless Classroom Poems anthologies A Rock Can Be... BookSpeak! Can Be... books classroom connections conferences and conventions equation poems events free verse haiku imagepoems image poems J. Patrick Lewis Kidlit Combos Laura's books Laura's poems my writing process National Poetry Month 2014 (riddle-ku) National Poetry Month 2016 nifty news nonfiction books personal photopoetry poems poemsketch Poetry 7 poetryactions poetry books Poetry Friday Poetry Princesses poetry prompts poetry sisters Putrid rhyming nonfiction rhyming poems Riddle-ku school visits snowman-cold student poems teen/adult poems the business side videos Water Can Be...

Meta

  • Log in
  • Entries feed
  • Comments feed
  • WordPress.org

Laura’s Press Kit Components

Who Am I?
Short Bios
Awards & Honors
Author Photos
Book Covers
Book Reviews
In the Press
How I Became a Writer

Laura’s Author Visit Info

VISITS TO SCHOOLS
A Video Intro to Laura’s Author Visits
Virtual Visits with Laura
Small Writes: Write-Along Videos
Printable Flyer (print page 1 only)
Author Visit Programs
Typical Schedules
Author Visit Materials
Multi-Day Visits
Fees
Ordering Books for Events
Where Laura’s Been
Laura’s Report Card from Educators

OTHER PRESENTATIONS

For Libraries & Book Festivals
For Educators
For Writers

Post Categories

Copyright © 2009–2023 · Laura Purdie Salas · WordPress · Log in