Plaquemines Parish School Board
Instructional Office
1484 Woodland Hwy
Belle Chasse, LA 70037
To the Plaquemines Parish School Board:
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Category Archives: Books
The 23rd Digest: A Bicolonation of David [Poem]
The 23rd Digest: A Bicolonation of David
I need Him, I am content
I drink up, I sleep deep
I am mended, I am upright
I see shadows, I fear not
I grip firm, I walk easy
I have food, I have foes
I am soaked, I am sated
I know mercy, I came home
Walking the Breath: A Sophomore Greek Tale
[In 10th grade my English teacher, Mrs. Carter, asked us to write a Greek-style story after reading The Odyssey. I held on to mine. The “vicious man-eater Humphries” was named after my 8th grade principal. If my memory serves me correctly, my companions were named after two friends in my youth group. In real life they would have surely made it. It was a pagan tale roughly told in the Greek tradition, assuredly, but I snuck a little Christology in.]
How Students Can Use Weebly With The Canterbury Tales
How Students Can Use Weebly With The Canterbury Tales
When my students read The Canterbury Tales, I didn’t want to tediously read through all of the characters with them. They wouldn’t remember all of the characters that way, and it would only serve to make it less interesting to the average high school student. So I had a plan.
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Introducing the Crucible with A Satire Blues Song
How do you introduce The Crucible to students? How do you cover McCarthyism and satire in a mini-lesson? How do you treat students to some good music in the process? I came up with a way to sneak a Bob Dylan song in.
I used “The Talkin’ John Birch Paranoid Blues” to demonstrate satire, cover the flaws of McCarthyism, and pair with The Crucible.
Down in the Hemlocks—A Summer Poem
[This week we’ll be saying goodbye to summer with three summer-themed poems I wrote during the summer. This untitled poem I wrote last summer, shortly after the birth of my son.]
Down in the hemlocks
I brought my young baby
My boy in a blanket
And swaddled him there
Under the hemlocks
Down by the river
The cold stony river
Under the shade
.
[For Noah]
My Short Story Makes Honorable Mention in Glimmer Train’s Fiction Open
I’m happy to announce that a short story I wrote, called “Last Day in April”, earned honorable mention in Glimmer Train‘s June Fiction Open writing contest.
I would love to share the story with my readers, but I am going to try and hold on to it for publication. If it happens, readers, you will be the first to know. Other than my family. All I can tell you is that if you like the work of Stephen Chbosky you might like this one.
I realize I haven’t shared any short pieces on this blog. Perhaps I ought to tease a few freebies in the near future.
Thank you to the editors at Glimmer Train for reading my story and placing me in Honorable Mention. They are a journal I really look up to, and it’s an honor to be considered.
Picking Blueberries at 3 Birds—A Summer Poem
[This week we’ll be saying goodbye to summer with three summer-themed poems I wrote during the summer.]
Picking Blueberries at 3 Birds
by Caleb Coy
I bring my son for the first time
To pick berries from the vine
Thirteen months old, he grabs them
By the handful
Out of the bucket
And off of the ground.
Clustered like grapes
They twist and pull
and fall into our buckets lightly.
Hand in hand we walk
Through the rows of the glade.
Among the gatherers
Among the Dutch visitors who came at dawn
In a cool June morning
When broke out the sun.
A belly full of berries
He rides on my shoulders
And gibber-gabbers
About sweet warm berries
In a perfect morning
Of a perfect day
The perfect day is pesticide free.
[For Noah]
Here is a link to 3 Bird’s Berry farm.
The Rime of the Anglyng Touryst—A Summer Poem
[This week we’ll be saying goodbye to summer with three summer-themed poems I wrote during the summer. This first number, based on my fishing trip, is a parody of “The Rime of the Ancient Mariner” by Samuel Taylor Coleridge.]
The Rime of the Anglyng Touryst
by Caleb Coy
It is an angling Tourist,
And he renteth a cheap rod.
“I’ve cut my shrimp in quarters.
Will I catch me a cod?”
Optimistic as the rising sun,
He casts out with a wink
(Because it’s all in the wrist,
Or so he’s been told to think).
He feels a little wiggle
He feels a little pull
“I think I’ve got a live one!
I’ve yanked him from the shoal!”
Alas, on pillars snagged—
It appears that when he cast
A wave brought his line inward
To the pier the hook held fast!
He gives a friendly wave
To a stranger down the pier,
Who knows what he is doing—
(That’s why he fishes here).
Then comes another tug—
“This time it is for real!”
A big knot he untangles,
But soon he’ll have his meal.
Perched above, a pelican—
Patiently it stares,
Chin tucked with the posture
Of a fasting saint in prayer.
[Dedicated to Charley Gwaltney]
Donald Miller Tries Out Book Titles
Donald Miller tries to come up with the perfect title for his new book.
CALEB COY 