A Word Please

I am honored to present the prolific and talented author, Magdalena Ball!

Magdalena Ball runs The Compulsive Reader. Her short stories, editorials, poetry, reviews and articles have appeared in a wide number of printed anthologies and journals. She is also the author of the poetry book Repulsion Thrust, the novel Sleep Before Evening, a nonfiction book The Art of Assessment: How to Review Anything and three other poetry chapbooks Quark Soup, and, in collaboration with Carolyn Howard-Johnson, Cherished Pulse, She Wore Emerald Then, and Imagining the Future.

Today Magdalena allows us a peak inside her newest work, a collaboration with Carolyn Howard-Johnson, Imagining the Future.

As part of the special celebration gift book series, Carolyn Howard-Johnson and Magdalena Ball have produced a new poetry chapbook focusing on fathers, husbands, and men in general. This makes a wonderful gift for Father’s Day or anytime you want to say something unique in a way that only poetry can to a special male in your life.
***

Foaming Stone

A triumvirate of fathers
on memory’s throne
no more godly than they ought
no less holy
in that wicked way of the mind.

Three ambitious men
triumviratus
struggling to be heard
against the lovely cacophony
of history.

The first, a rock
foaming DNA
his universal genetic code
sliding down the hill
impetus you couldn’t stop
even with the best inertia
you gave it everything
steamrolled flat
in glorious anger.

The second, like his predecessor
Julius Caesar
patrician and handsome
calm, cruel
the right word
always at the ready
his sword, admired
by the fireside.

The third
sells energy in a burlap sack
lightning cracks the purple sky
illumination that doesn’t last
sets your hair out
then disappears
leaving only static.
***
Father Earth

Gaia,
Parthenogenesis aside
Oceanis, Titan, and the others
compete for attention against the sounding sea
fighting, streaming
pulling pigtails
in a world gone deaf

it’s hard
to be a father these days

in vegetative state
dirt warm beneath fingers that clench
unclench
consciousness impossible to detect
eyes closed
against the magnitude of failure

the thump of
female stubbornness
keeps you alive
while he runs the show, removes trash, earns bread
keeps lights on while energy still flows.

Gaia, you whisper
hand on hand
delicate bones crushed beneath
male callouses

stroke towards the ring
Father Earth
wake the sleeping beast
desire for life
that burns beneath her marble slumber
rising breast.
***

To learn more about Magdalena Ball and her work:
www.compulsivereader.com/html
www.magdalenaball.com

Today I have the pleasure of hosting the multi-talented author, Helena Harper. She has published two books that are poetry collections: It’s a Teacher’s Life…! and Family and More – Enemies or Friends? ,which have been inspired by her professional and personal life. Illustrations for her first children’s picture book are now being done. Her aim is to see the book in print before the year is out.

Helena has written an article to share with us today:

School Heads – a bane or a blessing?

In my twenty years as a secondary school teacher, I’ve worked under five different Heads, and all of them except one (who left after I’d been at the school for only one term!) have most definitely been a bane. The problems I’ve encountered with Heads seem to be very widespread, according to what I hear from fellow teachers. Why is this so? What is it that seems to lead, almost inevitably, to Heads behaving like petty dictators, who can’t tolerate an ounce of criticism and – at the first sign of such – like a painter with his canvas ‘brush out what they don’t want to see’ (from my book It’s a Teacher’s Life!).

What leads to Heads being apparently bereft of moral conscience, treating teachers (and sometimes parents as well) without compassion, destroying their self-esteem, and putting ever-increasing workloads on their shoulders through crisis management and a total inability to plan effectively and organise themselves and their resources efficiently?

Here in the U.K., the board of governors of each school is responsible for appointing a new Head and from my personal experience, they frequently do a very bad job! Perhaps because they believe they know best and won’t see behind the facade that a candidate puts up (despite the advice of an experienced, outgoing Head); or perhaps because the majority of governors aren’t teachers and have no real idea what teaching is all about; or perhaps they just choose someone to fill the post, whether the person is suitable or not, because they can’t face going through the whole process again! It’s not unusual for the selection procedure to be repeated because of a lack of good quality candidates.

Even if the appointment of a Head is initially welcomed by staff, when the person actually gets into the job, there can be a rude awakening. It seems almost as though the position corrupts. As a colleague of mine has often said – Heads have too much autonomy, there aren’t enough checks and balances, and it goes to their heads. Perhaps, also, there isn’t enough training for new Heads to learn about the management demands made on them, and someone who is a wonderful teacher won’t necessarily be a good manager, and a good Head definitely needs to be both!

Being a Head is certainly not an easy position to hold. Perhaps certain Heads resort to being bullying despots simply to cover up their inadequacy and feelings of insecurity in the job. All the more reason, therefore, for the selection procedure to ensure the right person is chosen. I think in the U.K. the selection procedure definitely needs to be reformed and the staff in each school should be involved in the process. Prospective candidates need to make a presentation to governors, but why can’t they do this to the staff as a whole? When there are school inspections, the whole staff meets the team of inspectors informally over tea. Why can’t there be something similar for headship candidates? Why should it all be left up to the governors to decide?

These are just suggestions, but I believe something needs to be done to ensure that the person who is given the job, is someone

“who’ll know what it means
to be a boss;
someone who remembers
what it’s like to be human,
who can manage
resources and people
with realistic sympathy
and organized efficiency,
someone who creates
real, genuine respect —
but who am I kidding?
That’s the stuff of fiction, isn’t it,
not fact?”

(from “The Boss” in my book Family & More)

My hope is that one day that will be much more fact than fiction in the majority of schools.
—–

Helena would love to hear from you! You can find her, as well as information on her books and where to purchase them, in the following places:

Email: webmaster@helenaharper.com

Helena’s website: http://www.helenaharper.com

Helen’s Authorsden website: http://www.authorsden.com/helenaharper

Helena’s blog: http://helenaharpersblog.blogspot.com

Follow Helena on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/helenaharper

And here’s a glimpse at Helena’s Books. Click on the covers to purchase! (Family & More is currently available in e-book format only. The paperback version will be out soon!)

My thanks to Helena for being my guest today! Please feel free to leave comments and/or questions for Helena.