Markers & Erasers

Markers & Erasers is a collection of thirty-two poems about my experiences teaching in two Los Angeles public high schools over the course of five years. Throughout the poetry collection, the theme of education evolves from an emphasis on classroom conflict to an emphasis on understanding and reflection. This collection fits into the genre of didactic poetry in that it subtly teaches readers about teaching. I have taken actual events and feelings from the classroom and shared them through a variety of poetry styles. The variance in the visual and lyrical presentations of my poems reflects the diversity of people and experiences one encounters in this profession. The main poetic forms utilized are pataphor, senryu, free verse, shape poems, and list poems. The main devices utilized are hyperbole, repetition, allusion, enjambment, inner monologue, dialogue, and symbolism. These poems are the essential markers and erasers of my teaching career.