Memorization was once a key tool for the learning process. In college, I was involved in a host of Christian organizations and was constantly encouraged to memorize Bible verses. Anyone who passed through that scene would recognize the letters 'TMS' as a reference to the Topical Memory System, a product that helps Bible verse memorization with flash cards and path from the easiest and most used verses to the more difficult or obscure. I'm sure John 3:16 was high on the list. I also remember Isaiah 53:6--"We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way; and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all."
You know why I remember that verse? Because I like sheep. They're my favorite animal. I met camp counselor once who told me that everyone should have a power animal. I decided my power animal is sheep.
You probably like sheep, too. You like sheep; I like sheep. We all like sheep have gone astray...
Memorization is also very effective for poetry. Any aspiring poet--indeed, any aspiring wordsmith of any sort--should memorize poetry. It has a way of placing language--not just words, but language--into your head and letting it shape the way you think, speak and write.
My poetry classes in college asked me to memorize a host of poems. I've probably changed some of the words to these poems over time, but I've got them mostly down. One of my favorites is Lucille Clifton's "Cruelty." I'm going to write down the poem as a I remember it, and then I'll search online for the accurate text.
Cruelty
Don't speak to me about cruelty
Or what I am capable of.
When I wanted the roaches dead, I wanted them dead,
And I killed them.
I took a broom to their country and sliced and I slaughtered,
Without warning without stopping,
And I smiled all the time I was doing it.
It was a holocaust of roaches.
Bodies, parts of bodies, red all over the ground.
I didn't ask their names.
They had no names, worth knowing.
Now I stop myself whenever I enter a room.
I never know what I might do.
Okay, the actual poem can be found in this blog post. I did pretty well. I changed 'speak' to 'talk' and 'smashed and sliced' to 'sliced and slaughtered'. I must have made the switch to 'speak' or early on, because for years now I have said "don't speak to me about..." when confronted with a topic on which I felt I was already an expert. Even the opening word 'cruelty' has lingered with me. Speak the word out loud. Cruelty. It is a beautiful word. Your mouth wraps around it. I find myself mouthing the word whenever confronted with symbolic violence of my own or another's design. Cruelty.
This meditation is only possible because I once memorized the poem.
Read: Lucille Clifton's books of poetry, especially Next (which contains Cruelty) and The Book of Light.
Check out the Favorite Poem Project to watch videos of Americans reading their favorites.
Memorize a poem.
You know why I remember that verse? Because I like sheep. They're my favorite animal. I met camp counselor once who told me that everyone should have a power animal. I decided my power animal is sheep.
You probably like sheep, too. You like sheep; I like sheep. We all like sheep have gone astray...
Memorization is also very effective for poetry. Any aspiring poet--indeed, any aspiring wordsmith of any sort--should memorize poetry. It has a way of placing language--not just words, but language--into your head and letting it shape the way you think, speak and write.
My poetry classes in college asked me to memorize a host of poems. I've probably changed some of the words to these poems over time, but I've got them mostly down. One of my favorites is Lucille Clifton's "Cruelty." I'm going to write down the poem as a I remember it, and then I'll search online for the accurate text.
Cruelty
Don't speak to me about cruelty
Or what I am capable of.
When I wanted the roaches dead, I wanted them dead,
And I killed them.
I took a broom to their country and sliced and I slaughtered,
Without warning without stopping,
And I smiled all the time I was doing it.
It was a holocaust of roaches.
Bodies, parts of bodies, red all over the ground.
I didn't ask their names.
They had no names, worth knowing.
Now I stop myself whenever I enter a room.
I never know what I might do.
Okay, the actual poem can be found in this blog post. I did pretty well. I changed 'speak' to 'talk' and 'smashed and sliced' to 'sliced and slaughtered'. I must have made the switch to 'speak' or early on, because for years now I have said "don't speak to me about..." when confronted with a topic on which I felt I was already an expert. Even the opening word 'cruelty' has lingered with me. Speak the word out loud. Cruelty. It is a beautiful word. Your mouth wraps around it. I find myself mouthing the word whenever confronted with symbolic violence of my own or another's design. Cruelty.
This meditation is only possible because I once memorized the poem.
Read: Lucille Clifton's books of poetry, especially Next (which contains Cruelty) and The Book of Light.
Check out the Favorite Poem Project to watch videos of Americans reading their favorites.
Memorize a poem.
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