Robyn is this week’s hostess at Life of the Deckle Edge
In response to Michelle and Amy’s “Ditty of the Month” challenge, my everyday school object, often overlooked–as well as looked through: children’s eyeglasses, paired with their biological holder-uppers: noses.
While runny noses can be the bane of many a preschool and elementary teacher’s existence, noses, do, after all, serve a very useful educational purpose (besides facilitating breathing), which this poem proposes.
Having seen so many preschool and elementary children struggling to learn when they clearly need–but don’t yet have–eyeglasses–and then having seen so many children “fight” against wearing those well-needed glasses (“losing” them; “forgetting” them; even “accidentally” breaking them), my St. Patrick’s Day offering is a lucky celebration of noses and the wearin’ of the seein’ (against a green border, to be sure–not because green is the color of money, but because it is the color of shamrock/Irish luck, and what could be luckier, I suppose, than a nose to uphold see-through gold: eyeglasses!).
BTW, if it didn’t look so weird, I was wanting to spell succeed with a tip of the cap to eyeglasses: suc-see-d. (Query: Visuals aside..For a poem purportedly for little grade school children, would the suc-see-d be too cutesy/beyond them?)
Whether you are lucky or not to wear glasses, hope your St. Patrick’s Day is/was filled with an amazing array of sights, sounds, and smells! God bless you!
cbhanek 
I confess, cb, I was one of those children who was supposed to wear glasses but never did… I was too embarrassed. These days it’s so common (and fashionable), I’ve heard kids say they WANT to wear glasses just to be like their friends. Thanks for your fun celebration of noses for this month’s challenge. 🙂 BTW, in answer to your question, while I have no problem playing with words visually, in this case I like your couplet as is. It’s clean and simple and packs just the right punch without any extra bells and whistles.
Thank you for your childhood supposed-to-wear-glasses admission, as well as your insights, and especially your recommendation regarding suc-see-d. Am glad I succeeded without killing the clarity and cleanness. (p.s. Unfortunately & surprisingly, the PreK-Gr. 5 kids I taught the last 10 years didn’t get the “It’s fashionable to wear glasses” memo–yet!)..God bless you, and thanks again for spending so much time responding to this post. I’m glad to know that the poem is an acceptable response to the DOM challenge:) Thank you very much for your DOM interviews and challenges; I look forward to both, as well as the round-ups! Bless you!
Where WOULD we be without the bridge of our nose to hold up those glasses? Thanks, CB. Fun poem, and I agree with Michelle – I’d leave as is! :0)
Thank you so much for taking time to read and to comment; I appreciate your vote of confidence. Glad you “saw” the humor. God bless you!
That’s hilarious! I think it should be posted in every classroom. : )
🙂 Thank you! and thank you so much for taking time to read and to comment. …I have no idea why, but I can’t access the comment area on your post. Please know that I appreciated your behind-the-scenes look at how you work at your poetry. I, too, love haiku–mostly, I think, because 17 syllables are about all I can handle without revising to extinction. Something you wrote really struck me, pointing out what I have a negative tendency to do, unlike you: “without getting in the way and interpreting it for them.” Funny thing is that I was an inductive approach teacher, but can;t refrain from explaining in writing. Thanks for raising my consciousness. And if you can, please tell me what I’m not/doing when I try to comment on your site. Thank you! God bless you!
I like it, cb! I would leave it as is, too. I also like “a nose to uphold see-through gold” 🙂 (I was one of those kids who fight wearing glasses…I tried to memorize the eye chart so no one would know that I needed them. But at some point I stopped avoiding them and starting loving them.)
Thank you so much for taking time to read and to share your chart-memorizing escapades…sad thing is that I still try “helping” my left eye to see those blessed letters and numbers. Glad you liked the see-through gold; seems as if St. Patrick’s Day gave me some ways of thinking I wouldn’t have done otherwise. God bless you! Thank you!
I’ve never thought of the value of noses, except perhaps to help us rid ourselves of stuffiness, and now will always think of this additional attribute, CB. Perfect.
🙂 Thank you! …I admit I wondered if two ears would gang up in having been overlooked protest:) God bless you, and thank you very much for taking time to read and to affirmingly comment!
A dandy wearing of the green poem for all those eye glass wearers like me. I never had to wear glasses until I turned 50. Although I lamented my faith, truth be told I can’t live without them. Kudos to the couplet as is.
🙂 Thank you for reading and sharing your eyeglass-wearer experiences. Lucky you to have lived so many years glass free! Thank you for the opening line that makes me smile: “A dandy wearing of the green poem…” Thank you for the kudos! God bless you!
You’ve given me another reason to appreciate my nose, CB! Rendering it Suc-see-d would work especially well if you did hand lettering and worked the ee into eyes or spectacles.
Yes; I can see it. Great idea. Thank you for the graphic suggestion! I appreciate your taking time to read and to offer your expert advice. God bless you! It’s always a joy to see feedback from you! Thank you!
I’ve been extremely nearsighted since early childhood. I literally cannot see past my (thank goodness for it) nose, so I’ve never been able to understand children’s resistance to wearing glasses — they are my godsend! LOVE your poem! I don’t think you need to make any more of the SEE in succeed. Leave it somewhat hidden as a treasure for those who LOOK and listen closely!
Thank you for sharing your experiences re: eyeglasses/gratitude; thank you so much, too, for your most welcomed advice, not only regarding this poem, but in general as it applies to an overarching problem I have in literally revealing/explaining too much. I really need to let what you said sink in–and then apply it: “Leave it somewhat hidden as a treasure for those who LOOK and listen closely!” God bless you; thank you!
I never appreciated my nose so much as I do right now. I like that noses are “hand”y for “hold”ing up glasses. You have a lot of good word play going on. Leave it for the subtle to enjoy, would be my vote.
Vote tallied! Thank you so much for lending your voice and brains–to say nothing of your proven poetic expertise. God bless you!
Many blessings, splendid poet and friend.
Amen, and likewise!