Here's a link to my you tube channel where I read my poetry.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jRhyjqbFrGI
I was in 4th grade at Hubble Elementary. Eddie Van Patten was in 6th grade. He was a big kid, even for a 12-year-old. He had a bowl cut, and freckles. Eddie was a troublemaker, but he never bothered me.
One bitter cold January afternoon, he slipped on a patch of ice, hit the back of his head and died. Mr. Maguire, the gym coach said, It was the occipital bone. We were all told to feel the back of our heads. The coaches' eyes didn't have that sparkle anymore.
He said, “You have to learn how to fall, always protect the back of your head. If you don’t land right, It can kill you.”
For the next week, we practiced tumbling and learning to fall the right way. I was sad for Eddie, but I wanted to play dodgeball.
what a tragic story, something that should never have happened to a child. but i suppose the world is full of lives lost far too early. one can only weep. the persona of this poem is too little to fully comprehend death and is preoccupied by dodgeball. such innocence only adds to the pathos. but even this child notices changes: he feels sad; he notices the colour of the coach's eyes change. he is growing. he is learning all about the world. a heart-aching coming of age drama.
Those tragedies we experience in childhood do stay with us. I like how you expressed the child’s idea of wanting things to be normal in the midst of the collective loss. The poem overall gives a sense of a child’s view of tragic circumstance. Nice work.
Thomas W. Case was born in Oxnard. He has published 3 volumes of poetry. The Bullfrog Dreams of Flying, Artichokes, Avocados, and Van Gogh, and Seedy Town Blues. He has won several poetry contests. Hi.. more..