"Bingo!"
with fresh, FREE prompts & poems by Matthew E. Henry & Fatima Ashgar
I am sort of a MEH groupie. A superfan, if you will. Matthew E. Henry is a fellow K-12 educator of color & over the past few years has become a trusted friend & feedback partner. Recently, he was the only person I sent a very difficult poem—one I would only trust another teacher of color to read. Matthew is also my pressmate at Harbor Editions—his new book said the Frog to the scorpion just came out!
Here is an excerpt from my blurb which appears on the back of the book:
said the Frog to the scorpion by Mathew E. Henry, is the searing testimony of a Black public school teacher in a mostly white, American school. In it, the author confronts what is too often left unspoken: the unacknowledged damage caused by our failures as a nation and as individuals to dismantle systematic racism. said the Frog to the Scorpion takes brilliant, unexpected risks through reclaiming forms found in public schools: fairy tale retellings, pop quizzes, erasures, formative & summative assessments and a bingo board. This collection is necessary for everyone who has taught or attended school in America, for everyone who thinks they are not racist, and for anyone brave enough to be part of the solution.
—Joan Kwon Glass, author of Night Swim
Needless to say, you should buy this book!
There are so many brilliant poems in the book, but his visual poem below is what inspired today’s writing prompt.
I asked Matthew to explain the context of his poem In his poem “when asked what I learned during the ‘community forum’ on the appropriateness of my poem,” and here’s what he said:
“I was hired to conduct professional development on antiracism teaching practices for the faculty of a local high school and to lead discussions and a poetry workshop with a group of students. A group of racist white women, terrified of “critical race theory,” attempted to have the event (and me) canceled. Calls were made to the school’s administration, the superintendent’s office, the school board, and for good measure, a right-wing troll’s website attempting to ban me from the building.
I wrote this poem after learning about a school board meeting where my upcoming appearance would be discussed. It’s made up of statements I imagined being proudly expressed during that meeting, as well as phrases from emails sent to the school that were shared with me. I wrote a different poem after reading the transcript of the actual meeting. My guesses weren’t too far off. The free space in the middle of the BINGO board displays the heart of their comments because people often believe being seen as racist is worse than saying racist things.”
I have seen the bingo board format used by other writers (also see the poem Microaggression Bingo) by Fatima Ashgar, but in my opinion, Matthew’s version is the most ambitious and expansive.
Okay! Here are your prompts for this week:
Brainstorm a list of questions—they can be questions that others have asked you and/or questions that you have sought, are seeking answers to or that you believe are “unanswerable.” Choose one of those questions and in a bingo board format, begin to “answer” it. Use the “free space” to offer readers the central theme or idea you want them to consider.
Think of a time when you had to navigate a difficult emotion or experience. Use the bingo board format to include details from this experience. Examples:
what my boss means when he asks if I’m okay
what I will never tell my daughter about that night
what I think when I hear that __________ has died
what I don’t say in his eulogy
dating after the age of 40
scripture that Christians conveniently ignore
reminders that you don’t love me
what we don’t say at the family reunion
Use the free space to include a word, phrase or question that connects all of the other squares.
Write a poem after Fatima Ashgar’s Microaggression Bingo which explores an experience that you have a lot of experience with. Examples: infertility bingo, loneliness bingo, late stage capitalism bingo, climate grief bingo, fat girl bingo, imposter syndrome bingo, etc.
*LAST CHANCE to sign up for these virtual, generative workshops:
Black Hole Mirror: Writing Poems Inspired by Astral Phenomena
Never Enough: Writing Poems About Addiction & Recovery
Interested in manuscript feedback, poem feedback or other services I offer? Click HERE.
Considering taking a virtual, generative poetry workshop? Click HERE.