Cissy Lewis | Blogger: Poems

Wednesday, May 17, 2017

Billy Collins

I recently listened to a performance of Billy Collins reading a collection of his poems. Not all poets read their own poems well, but Collins's readings are superb, the cadence and tone of his voice a perfect vehicle for the poems on the page. Listening to his poems, it is no surprise to me that Collins is so wildly popular. His poems speak of the ordinary and the everyday in a new and often very ironic way that illicits laughter and delight.

Humor is one of the most distinguishing characteristics of his poetry. He knows how to be both clear and mysterious, simple and profound. Whether he is spoofing love poems that pile on excessive metaphors on the beloved - as he does in "Litany," or describing the poignant vulnerability of a building ruined by an explosion - as he does in "Building With Its Face Blown Off," he is a master of his craft.

Wednesday, December 21, 2016

Poems Addressing Emotional Pain

“Wait” by Galway Kinnell and “After Great Pain, a Formal Feeling Comes” by Emily Dickinson are two poems that address the experience of great emotional pain.

In both, the person in pain is numb to the point of death. Both poems paint the external signs of that internal pain, that emotional crisis– the numbness, listlessness, inertness, and lack of interest in the world. The physical body shuts down to protect the aching heart and the chaotic mind.

In Kinnell’s poem, he encourages the person in pain to “wait,” to believe in the healing power of time itself. Be patient and life’s vitality will re-emerge, the narrator seems to say.

Dickinson’s poem seems less hopeful: the images of death and formality persist to the end, raising the question of whether we can ever outlive the pain of great emotional shock.

About Me

Cissy Lewis, an award-winning educator, has been involved in schools all of her life. As an eleven-year-old, she started her first school in Santiago, Chile, teaching reading and writing to children who had no school options. She comes from a line of educators – her mother earned a Ph.D. in political science in an era when few women were earning advanced degrees, and her grandfather taught Greek and Latin.

She started her teaching career at The Hockaday School in Dallas, Texas, where she taught English in both the Upper and Middle Schools. At The Harpeth Hall School in Nashville, Tennessee, she was honored with the Best New Teacher award. At the Castilleja School, she twice received the Distinguished Teacher Award.

Cissy Lewis held leadership positions at The Baylor School in Chattanooga, Tennessee, and at The Castilleja School in Palo Alto, California. At Baylor, she joined the administrative team, initially as Dean of Girls and then as Assistant Head of School, to help the school implement the transition from an all-boys school to coeducation. At Castilleja, she was academic dean, Head of Upper School, Assistant Head of School, and interim Head of School. Her responsibilities included oversight of the daily academic operations of the school, and coordinating the recruitment and hiring of new faculty. She also oversaw curricular review, the faculty evaluation system, and faculty professional growth.

Ms. Lewis attended Mt. Holyoke College and subsequently received bachelor’s degrees in both biology and English cum laude from The University of the South in Sewanee, Tennessee. She pursued graduate studies at The Bread Loaf School of English where she received her M.A. and was honored as Class Marshall. She also earned an M.Ed. at Harvard University’s Graduate School of Education, where she was influenced by Carol Gilligan’s groundbreaking research as reflected in her seminal work In a Different Voice, and focused on the psychology of adolescence and the education of girls.

Ms. Lewis has served on the Board of Grace Cathedral in San Francisco, California, and The Carey School in San Mateo, California. She enjoys reading, hiking, yoga, and travelling.