This week, I channel pandemic anger into poetry and share 3 revision strategies I used to a new poem "People for President" Consider this a mini poetry case study.

more at desmondspann.com

What a week!? I barely finished this episode. I'm sharing my worries and hopes during this time of Corona. Here's to making the best out of an unsettling time. More at Desmondspann.com

This week is a two birds one seed week. My students are struggling with my poetry unit. I need to help them figure out what should be in poem. In this episode, I discuss how to add FLAVOR to poetry.

This week, I want to try something I have always wanted to do. Have you wondered what it is like inside the mind of a freestyler? What's the process? How do they put ideas and rhymes together on the spot? So here's what I am doing. I'm going to freestyle acapella and to the best of my ability I will reflect on the process, thus taking you inside, behind the lines in real time. Rhymes Galore!

This week I'm sharing a poem that I am working on. It's untitled and unfinished but I have some lines that I want to share. I like talking craft. Some believe that talking about the creation of the poem ruins the poem, but I'm not one of those people. I know I gained a lot from other writers who discuss their approach to writing so I hope you will gain something from this as well.

This week I'm sharing some poems on this racialized identity we call black. I identify as a black male with the awareness that my race doesn't exist biologically, but it exists socially. There are times when I'm speaking in terms of race to identify groups it feels like I'm talking about houses in Harry Potter. While the racial labels, especially the color labels, are not real, the effects of racism are real, long, and touch all aspects of society. So this is a great subject for my work because the source inspiration is endless.

I would like to share three poems with you this week. I'll keep the poetry reflection to a minimum. These are poems I shared on Instagram over the last few weeks. Two of them came from my normal process but the third was by my request for prompts which I normally only do when I am freestyling.

Books mentioned:

Bronx Masquerade by Nikki Grimes

Negotiating the Non-negotiable by Daniel Shapiro

I ask myself this question "What should I force students to do so that when they experience the benefits I won't have to force them to do it anymore?"

There is power is being a teacher that I uncomfortable with that I must use. This week is I'm reflecting on power.

A couple of personal anecdotes where it clicks, while I'm working on acceptance and note foreboding the joy of my learning.

That Open Mic Night has an Album check it out here's the link.

https://open.spotify.com/album/1OmhKvCtXBvpFULNkguKFI

This week it's my first poetry reflection of the year.

I want to share one of the poems I posted on Instagram and talk about what inspired it.

It's a good time to do a poetry reflection because the 1st semester has ended. My high school fresh-folks finished their report writing projects and next week we begin poetry.

In an effort to push my writing practice pass the pressure of perfectionism, I post one or two poems per day on Instagram @dluxtl.

For at least 20 years now, I consider myself a recovering perfectionist and while I manage to perform and publish my work, I'm not as prolific as I could be because of fear.

Often, it's the fear of judgment and harsh critique that keeps me honing my craft in the safety of my journals and not doing the work.

I consider most of what I write on Instagram to be poetry seeds that may produce longer pieces. This one definitely has potential. The piece is short, but there are many ideas swimming around these few words.