Really? That's too bad. Why?

We are currently putting together an issue of Writing magazine and we need your help. If you are one of those students who absolutely hates to write, we want to hear from you! Only, you're going to have to write to us. Kind of a Catch 22, huh?

Send us an email at word@weeklyreader.com. Put "I Hate Writing" in the subject line and tell us all about it. What is it about writing that you dislike so much? Is it too hard? Is it boring? Let us know. We want to publish your thoughts in our magazine but more importantly, we want to help you. We want, more than anything, to crush this plague of hatred. We want to pound it into oblivion and make great writers out of the unwilling. Can we do it? Heh. Honestly, I don't know. We're certainly going to try though.

Write to us now. Feel free to vent.

-Poem by Taylor Doaty, Grade 8

As I stroll down the park,
I see an abandoned riverbank.
As I approach it,
I decide to slow down.
The shadows from the trees
make the bank look more filthy and dark.
Through the dirt and filth,
I can see the history of the riverbank.
Through the empty bottles and smashed glass,
I see people fishing and laughing
and smiling.
Without notice,
I bend down, pick up the trash
and put it in its proper place.
Soon, another lady comes to help.
Before you know it,
the riverbank is trash-free and clean.

Yesterday was Earth Day. Everyone continue to do your part. After all, this is home.

The following blog entry was written by Meredith Matthews, the editor of Current Health magazine.

April is National Poetry Month! It's time to reread your favorite poems, share them with others, and maybe write some while you're at it. One person who has taken that sentiment to heart is Stephanie Hemphill.

She recently published a book called Your Own, Sylvia. It is a biography of the highly acclaimed poet Sylvia Plath. But interestingly, it's told in poetry, adopting the voices of people who knew Plath, and pondering what might have been going on in the poet's head at various points in her life. Hemphill offers a series of poems that take the reader from Plath's birth in 1932, through her life and writing, and all the way to her suicide in 1963.

The poems are sometimes amusing, sometimes striking, but they all attempt to communicate what Plath was like at various points in her life. The reading of each poem, as well as the biographical note that explains it, gives the reader immediate and poignant insight. It makes Plath's life story more vivid and accessible than a full-length biography could.

If you're a fan of Plath, try this book on for size and see if you want to add it to your collection. (You'll also want to pick up The Bell Jar, her semi-autobiographical novel.) If you've never read any of Plath's poetry before, National Poetry Month is a great time to start!

Much of her work is edgy, marked by anger and violence, but she also wrote poems of immense and simple beauty, that anyone can appreciate. A good example is the poem “Morning Song,” essentially a love note to a child. Even if you don't usually like poetry, you'll probably be smitten by these lovely lyrics.

"We are Virginia Tech.

We are sad today and we will be sad for quite awhile. WE are not moving on, we are embracing our mourning.

We are Virginia Tech.

We are strong enough to know when to cry and sad enough to know we must laugh again.

We are Virginia Tech.

We do not understand this tragedy. We know we did not deserve it but neither does a child in Africa dying of AIDS, but neither do the invisible children walking the night to avoid being captured by a rogue army. Neither does the baby elephant watching his community be devastated for ivory; neither does the Appalachian infant killed in the middle of the night in his crib in the home his father built with his own hands being run over by a boulder because the land was destabilized. No one deserves a tragedy.

We are Virginia Tech.

The Hokier Nation embraces our own with open heart and hands to those who offer their hearts and minds. We are strong and brave and innocent and unafraid. We are better than we think, not quite what we want to be. We are alive to the imagination and the possibility we will continue to invent the future through our blood and tears, through all this sadness.

We are the Hokies.

We will prevail, we will prevail.

We are Virginia Tech."      [source: TPM ]

This is a poetic call for unity, healing, and dealing ... and probably the most powerful reflection I've come across over the past few days.

After reading this speech, I went looking for more of Giovanni's poetry. I came across "Cotton Candy on a Rainy Day"  which you might already know. I think it really sheds light on this moment in history.

You know, it helps not to be alone during days as dark as these -- and literature and poetry, as always, has the power to pull us together. So, I invite you to read Nikki Giovanni's speech and her poem "Cotton Candy on a Rainy Day"  and to share your thoughts and feelings about these writings and the VT tragedy with us and other students in the WORD community. Click on the {comment} button below and talk to us.

 I really hope to hear from you.