I like to keep busy at school.  When there is nothing for me to do in one class, I often slip into another.  On entering an English class one day, the teacher told me, "We are writing 'Have You Ever' poems.  You should write one too."  Less than fifteen minutes to write a poem was a challenge.  The result was pedestrian, not bad, but no real focus and not worth saving.  However, a seed was planted.  When the next school year started, the experience popped back into my mind.  Could such a poem be an opening for a 60-year old to make a connection with middle-schoolers?  With that audience clearly in mind, I tried to grab their attention and deliver a positive message:

Have you ever

Explored a cave where no one had ever been?

Had a bat fly into your mouth?

Built a radio that worked?

Jumped off a 100 foot cliff … backwards?

Swum for more than a mile?

Gone around the world in less than a week?

Traveled to all 48, now 50, States?

Been there when your team won the World Series?

Spent a week inside of a prison?

Been bitten by your pet raccoon?

Stoned a rattlesnake?

Seen a flashflood roar through a dry ravine?

Lived in a two room mud hut?

Weeded and harvested corn with a machete?

Eaten a lizard’s tail?

Gotten a visit from President Eisenhower?

Watched your babies graduate from college?

 

Have you ever

Felt frustrated and wanted to quit?

Been full of joy when you finally succeeded?

Felt proud of something you wrote?

Gotten nervous when you had to read it aloud?

Cried because of names you had been called?

Gotten so mad that you hurt someone you love?

Been saddened by the loss of a friend?

Felt important when someone asked you for help?

 

Have you ever

Realized

Our differences make us interesting

Our feelings prove we are all alike