Back to School | September Writing Prompt
“I was sent home the first day
with a note: Danny needs a ruler.
My father nodded, nothing seemed so apt.
School is for rules...”
This is it – the end of summer and this month’s prompt is all about that back to school feeling. Do you remember how it felt as a child to see the end of the school holidays approaching with its promise of routine and uniforms and classes and homework? Did you revel in the last days of summer? Were you disappointed at the loss of freedom. Or excited to be back among friends and classmates?
What do you remember about those first days back at school? New clothes and sturdy winter shoes? Buying stationery and school supplies? The smell of erasers, plastic rulers and the smooth lined and margined pages of new jotters? Covering your schoolbooks with brown paper or scraps of old wallpaper to keep them good?
Do you still feel that twinge at this time of year?
Maybe you’re now prepping for children or grandchildren returning to school? Or heading back to school yourself? Have you been a mature student? Have you experience of teaching either in a classroom, home-schooling by choice or during the pandemic?
Maybe back to school means the kids are out from under your feet and more time to yourself during the day?
Or maybe the change of temperature and season means digging out the autumn work wardrobe and a sense of returning to duty and responsibility now that summer is on the wane? What does Autumn mean for you? What lessons will the new season bring?
Today’s prompt invites you to explore your experience of going back to school and this change of season. Did you thrive or rebel under classroom culture? Were you a teacher’s pet, a class clown or a schoolyard bully? Who were the teachers who stood out for their empathy and understanding? Who should never have been let through the gates? What was your favourite treat from the tuck shop? What was the most valuable life skill you garnered from your schooldays?
Inspiration
Today's inspiration comes from Daniel J. Langton's 'School', and an early lesson in order:
https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/55681/school-56d2378110529
Stephen Spender paints a grim picture of the classroom experience in 'An Elementary School Classroom in a Slum':
https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/92219/an-elementary-school-classroom-in-a-slum-588122c09a94b
And a history lesson runs aground in Miroslav Holub's 'Napoleon':
Musical Interlude
The Poetry & Writing Submissions List
The September edition of the submissions list is now up on the blog with over 150 opportunities for writers and artists, open of with deadlines this month.
If you find the monthly submissions list useful, and would like to show your appreciation to keep it as an open resource for writers in 2024, please click one of the buttons below and make a small contribution - a €12 donation is suggested but any and all contributions are greatly appreciated.
DONATE OR SUBSCRIBE VIA PAYPAL
DONATE VIA STRIPE (CREDIT CARD)
If you have the means, please consider making a monthly contribution by selecting that box on the Paypal link.
What I’m Reading:
Shadow Reader by Imtiaz Dharker
Finger Exercises for Poets by Dorianne Laux
Every Word is a Bird We Teach to Sing by Daniel Tammet
