Feelings Were So Intense 4

In “Secret Dreams of Fantasy,” Donna wrote:

There’s things I want to happen
but only in my mind.
(p. 30)

And in “Education,” Moet wrote:

We need a book and a teacher to shine the light on us. Education is the key so all of us can be free. We’ve got to educate the mind and free the soul.
(p. 41)

Among the subjects addressed in Streams 6 were education, friendship, AIDS, substance abuse, and student reflections on the book itself. At Auxiliary Services for High Schools’ Saint George School, Christine was annoyed after reading aloud a correspondence in class. Her teacher and I encouraged her to write a critique. Her essay, “Critical Feelings About Streams Five” appeared in Streams.

I still can’t decipher all the reasons why my feelings were so intense. I’m sure it was a combination of many thoughts, feelings and experiences. I felt extremely impatient with the teacher. I suppose the subject matter made me look at my own life and my own experiences and mistakes. It brought up feelings of shame and stupidity. I was also very impatient with the other students in the class. They were so rude. I didn’t want to deal with any of this. These kids make so many mistakes. Things they will not be able to change. They will look back in fifteen or twenty years and see their mistakes. That look back can be very painful.

The letter from the young girl in the rehab to the teenage boy really upset me. I was thinking, “How stupid you are! How dumb you sound! What type of life are you going to have? You look up to a man who visits his son once in a while and who doesn’t emotionally or financially support this child or his mother. What’s worse, he does not even see the wrong in that. How you see this man as someone to admire, how you consider this a good parent, absolutely blows my mind. Don’t you understand? Children need so much! I guess I can’t blame you. I just hope that when you raise your own children, if you don’t think the way they speak, the way they dress, the education they have is important, please, I hope to God you have at least great maternal love for them and treat them with understanding and patience.
(p. 146)

This sixth annual anthology concluded with Shariff’s poem:

Streams is a book full of poems and rhymes,
People speak their minds and their brightness shines,
You can write about the future, present or past,
Or about your new girlfriend, or the one you had last.
It’s an expression of the mind, the thoughts that you’re thinking,
About your fun weekend or a love that you’re seeking.
Speaking of thoughts, this is mine about the Streams book,
I took one look through the pages and my brain shook.
So I said to myself, I’m a talented writer,
And this is a book that my work should be inside of.
So I gave Mr. Hejna a sample of my work and
He said, “This is great, you’re a talented man.
I’m gonna put you in the book ‘cause I think you deserve it,
A great poem artist and it’s time that people heard it.”

Streams is a book where you can write about yourself,
Your personality, reality or big dreams of wealth.
Things that you did and you now regret.
Let off steam in the Streams, that’s what it’s there for,
And if your work is good and score then write more.
One never knows you might start your fame there,
Then when you’re grown and rich in ten years,
While you’re sitting in your home thinking back you’ll say,
“If it wasn’t for Streams, where would I be today?”
Take my advice, read slow and take a long look,
Remember I said that Streams is a fly book!
(p. 147)

Streams 6