A Piece Of Chalk Poem by prasanna kumari
A Piece Of Chalk
A lesson on ‘Grass’ I teach
They don’t understand- my children
Blank, questioning looks-enquiring....
They look at me and the blackboard....
A blackboard with no writing
And a teacher without a piece of chalk
Both blank and empty.......
I crave for a piece of chalk
A piece of chalk in my hand
That binds me and my children
I write.........letters
White letters against blackness
Doesn’t it look silvery...?
That shines.........
Shines in the darkness of my life
The letters fill the blackboard
The children stare at that...
Do they understand......?
-that they fill the pages of my life
Do they understand.......?
-that what I teach should fill the pages of their life
Do they understand......?
We stamp on grass and say ‘O, grass! worthless’
But they smoothen the thorny path of our life
Grass-‘ The living garment of God’- to Goethe
And ‘ a scented handkerchief with God’s signature’ to Whitman
Green, young and life-giving
A mediator between man and earth
To protect earth from barren, rocky nothing
Oh! A girl dozing in my class
A piece of chalk on her
Like my teacher did long time back
To awaken her to reality
I write.......words
Words for my children to internalize
Words that contain a world of passion
Words to excite and entice
Words to order and obey
Words to utter and abuse
Will my children abuse with the words I teach
That will bring a tear in many eyes
Words of success and defeat
Words that breathe, words that boast
Words that talk, words that walk
Words that gallop, words that fly
Will my children sing songs with my words
That will make many minds to dance
Words of will and wish
Words of love and hate
Will they use these words to hate
That will bring conflict in their life
Words of comfort and console
And The Bible said ‘The word was God’
Can I make them understand....?
Like black and white, day and night
Is sorrow and happiness-intermingling
We can’t escape........
That blackness makes whiteness brighter
That ecstasy makes agony enduring
And agony makes ecstasy fulfilling
Now children.........
Go out and absorb colours from nature
Blue from the ocean, azure from the sky
Green from the leaves, yellow and brown too....
Rose, violet and lily will fill your life with colours
The colour of twilight need not dishearten you
For there is a day after every night
Oh! it fell down......
A piece of chalk
I should not stamp on it
I need it for tomorrows’ children
And for ME
Gives great reminiscence.Oh! A girl dosing...a piece of chalk on her.Only difference I was then a boy. Your all poems are down to earth, simple, meaningful, soul searching etc etc.Give us more and more such poems.Congrats
really grt.. 2 be frank, i'm always intrstd in poems with rhyming words.. but, aunty, dis one is really grt.. i'm a girl who give grt respect 2 teachers, n..i don't know wat 2 say..... my respect 2wards them increased after i read this... '''''grass smoothens our path''''' ''''''blackness makes whitness brighter'''''''' '''''''there is a day after every night'''''' '''''''i need d chalk 4 2morrows children''''' ---i liked these lines more.. u r a malayali, right? ? ? ?
Using chalk as tool to show something that is guiding a) children to their future and importance of what it writes (and what it doesn't by using blackness) . b) self to remind of responsibility of making children aware and worry for usage of those letters written Using Page to show the span of life and writing to living Using grass to connect with nature Using colours to show importance of goodness and assurance that good times return And finally taking care of that precious learning by not abandoning that tool(chalk) that taught the lesson. Was a nice experience to read it
Hats off to you the teacher. So many things you taught us with a piece of chalk. I think I should rewrite my poem Chalk. No points I covered in it......Smiles...... I loved reading each lines and you captured all the points which a chalk could cover...thanks for sharing with us. Loved it.
dear Prasanna, Very sweet and nice feel of deep affection and care for children. Unique imagery. Thanks for your comments on my poem. Keep in touch and keep reading
The colour of twilight need not dishearten you For there is a day after every night confident building words for a hopeful tomorrow. Hats off teacher
lots of messages and dreams...beautiful poem. thank you for sharing, Prasanna Kumari..
This poem has not been translated into any other language yet.
I would like to translate this poem
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11/19/2025 4:07:50 AM # 1.0.0
In class rooms of my childhood days The black boards seemed so dull and grey And the teachers voice a monotonous drone While we back benchers had our own games to play Teachers taught for the few front row scholars Unmindful of the farther end slow learners And as the chalk squeaked and scratched on the board We opened windows to look at the great outdoors And there we learned much from cats and squirrels And it made dull grammar afternoons so full of native thrills.... (Nice poem of the chalk - keep writing)