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Fred Haas @akh003.bsky.social · 3d

Yet, the only way is through. They all have to simply go again, but Slot has to find some short-term solutions to stabilize this slide.

Fred Haas @akh003.bsky.social · 3d

That is the hardest of #LFC defeats in this brutal run. The opponent, moment, and manner all sting. So many individuals struggling with form at the same time, questionable decision-making all over the shop. It’s not for lack of trying, but everything seems completely out of synch.

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Fred Haas @akh003.bsky.social · Aug 31

Another #LFC half with a weak ref who’s afraid to call fouls to let the game flow, letting everything escalate, but quick to punish the Reds for getting fed up with it.

Fred Haas @akh003.bsky.social · Aug 25

Unreal finish by the #LFC teenager! The moment, the composure, the placement. Absolutely stunning!

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Fred Haas @akh003.bsky.social · Aug 25

This referee isn’t half helping the home side, which has thrown everything completely out of synch for #LFC. Reds have to absolutely knuckle-down, ride out this storm, and find a foothold.

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Fred Haas @akh003.bsky.social · Aug 3

I can’t even imagine using an AI tool for letters of recommendation. The whole reason the kid has asked me to write it has to do with our relationship. Plus, no language predictor is going to sell the strengths of that student like I will, based on our experience together. I simply couldn’t!

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Fred Haas @akh003.bsky.social · Jul 29

Acceptance of handed down tradition and knowledge is preparation, not just for tradition but preservation. The young one intuitively recognizes it as a ritual, a resonant realization of the elder’s mortality, something she definitely wants no part of nor has the tools to articulate.

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Fred Haas @akh003.bsky.social · Jul 29

While the elder wants to show the younger ways, passing down knowledge, understanding, the young want no part of it. Seen as chores, they reject what is being handed down without recognizing all the intangible, deeper opportunities on offer.

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Fred Haas @akh003.bsky.social · Jul 29

#PoemADayJuly

Been away for a time but back for this poem, one I use often with students.

I’ve paired it with some other poems & short stories that show generational connections, especially grandmother and granddaughter. Revealing the disconnect between the experience of the elder and the young.

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Fred Haas @akh003.bsky.social · Jul 16

“there is no ‘other’ land to arrive in. My work: to imagine.”

And he does.

“I was born mid-migration. I’ve made my home in that motion.”

The motion, call-and-response movement creates a new “land,” the one where the speaker fights freely for what is held dearest. The motion makes meaning.

Fred Haas @akh003.bsky.social · Jul 16

I wonder about the “Answer: “ but love that it’s left open for us to fill in the blank.

That’s where “our work” begins.

Fred Haas @akh003.bsky.social · Jul 16

So many beautiful bits, each sentence a punch, swinging at stuff keeping the speaker and “my people” down, calling it out with “my work,” like a jab-refrain left of the colon for the combo-cross from the right.

There is a fearlessness. Aggressive belief in the power of poetry to make a difference.

Fred Haas @akh003.bsky.social · Jul 16

Day 15 #PoemADayJuly

A prose poem with punch and power.

José Olivarez’s “Ars Poetica“ lands blows against the cultural landscapes of his familial migration, so far, rising above toxicity to celebrate the loved people, safety, and survival.

Let me try again: a poem that celebrates the struggle.

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Fred Haas @akh003.bsky.social · Jul 14

I’m fascinated by use of smell in poems.

What the daughter thought might be deception is “Smell the way the air changes because of purple and green.” Natural and fragrant, but “change” is what catches. Followed by a promise.

Another two part change, father to daughter, and the “scent of rain.”

Fred Haas @akh003.bsky.social · Jul 13

Day 13 #PoemADayJuly

First take, a small moment between father and daughter with flowers and an unexpected turn.

Why does the young girl pull away?

There is so much possibility in that suspended moment. Yet, the promise “I will never give you a fist full of wasps” is full of humor and love.

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Fred Haas @akh003.bsky.social · Jul 12

Day 11 #PoemADayJuly

First take, the breadth and vastness “Telescope” is a window to the night sky and true relation of the nature of things.

“There is a moment after you move your eye away / when you forget where you are” but “You see again how far away / every thing is from every other thing.”

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Fred Haas @akh003.bsky.social · Jul 11

Day 10 #PoemADayJuly

First takeaway, the sense of loss. Loss of who instructed “Not alone — never alone” and showed the speaker how to “Look!” Also, the who likely hurt by the speaker’s inattention. So, multiple lessons are learned about loss, despite the who having left the speaker.

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Fred Haas @akh003.bsky.social · Jul 9

The images are so strong. Intimate memories from the speaker, contrasted with the knowns an informed reader brings sharpen the effects. The grades U and S also bring home just how young Jamyla Bolden was, an elementary school child.

Fred Haas @akh003.bsky.social · Jul 9

The personal quality of the speaker is so strong: the directness to Jamyla, references to the father, but most of all, the familiarity of the place, Ferguson, MO. A place now infamous for violence.

It was no surprise learning Shihab Nye hails from Ferguson, as @thevogelman.bsky.social linked.

Fred Haas @akh003.bsky.social · Jul 9

Day 9 #PoemADayJuly

Another powerful, poignant poem that remains resonant despite it being slightly dated. This masterful stuff by Naomi Shihab Nye.

What strikes me first is the tone and nature of how the speaker addresses a young girl lost, Jamyla Bolden. There is such tenderness and care.

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Fred Haas @akh003.bsky.social · Jul 9

I usually try to find the year of publication for poems. I did not for this one, but I always don’t I’m going to use them with students. Thank you.

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Fred Haas @akh003.bsky.social · Jul 8

The irony of no escape in a poem ambiguously titled “Running Orders” slowly unfolds as the premise of a pointless warning is realized in the remarkable finish in the final three lines, “Prove you’re human. / Prove you stand on two legs. / Run.”

This really is some poem!

Fred Haas @akh003.bsky.social · Jul 8

I love the mundane simplicity of so much of the imagery. Wedding album, son’s favorite blanket, daughter’s almost completed college application, and shoes take on even more significance when there is no chance of saving them while living in in a war zone with no escape.

Fred Haas @akh003.bsky.social · Jul 8

Day 8 #PoemADayJuly

Wow. So poignant, powerful, punctual a poem.

First read of “Running Orders,” the specificity of detail loaded in lines so vivid but brief build a tension only occasionally released with a longer line. It sent me looking for more Lena Khalaf Tuffaha. What a discovered delight.

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Fred Haas @akh003.bsky.social · Jul 8

What a haiku.

May you have found some sleep by the time you see this.

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