Hansel & Gretel Get the Word on the Street

by Al Ortolani

Hansel and Gretel Get the Word on the Street contains poems written over several years. Each poem is like a chalk mark on a blackboard. Much like the teacher who has leaned one too many times against the chalk tray, Ortolani wears his poems on the back of pants, his shirt sleeves, his jacket elbows. These poems represent connections to others, sometimes dark, sometimes light, often quirky. A fellow teacher, and mentor to the poet, once said that one of the most difficult measures of the career public school teacher is their ability to stay positive and elevated by interest, if not always in the subject matter, then in the hand raised outside of the T zone.

Genres: Poetry

40 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2019

Reviews

[Alarie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Once a great teacher, always a great teacher, even outside of the classroom. That is why Al Ortolani has inspired many future writers and older ones, like myself, who have never taken a class from him, but benefited from encouragement, tips, and book blurbs. So I can't help but be partial. On the other hand, I've been impressed by Rattle chapbooks for many years now. It was fitting for him to win the honor.

Hansel & Gretel getting street smarts is a good metaphor for children reaching middle and high school. This collection takes a look back at the good, bad, touching, inspiring, and funny moments
witnessed by Ortolani in his long teaching career. He is known for his quirky, wry sense of humor, which seemed to be a trademark of good English teachers even in my day. How better to entertain and put up with a mob of adolescents every day?

Ah spring, ah raging hormones! The poet tell us,

"Fourth hour goes bonehead in spring,
I'd say they're selectively bright.
Occasionally, I have to take
the host of knowledge
and lay it on their tongues,
and even then, on bad days, it just
falls out from between their teeth
onto the gray carpet...."
("The Class That Would Not Eat")

In "Ms. W Explains Roethke to AP English," most Rattle chapbook readers will quickly realize the day's lesson is based on Roethke's famous poem, "My Papa's Waltz." With some help from Mr. O, those teens will always remember that poem:

"Even if they'd seen a waltz, they'd never
danced one. Oh, they knew the word, like we might
know the words pan flute or bacchanalia. So, when I heard
Ms. W's fifth hour go dumb as wall paste,
the definition vague and untendered, I stepped
into the classroom and held out my arms."

[Ashly Johnson · Rating 5 out of 5]

The vibe of this whole collection is so wholesome. For some reason, I really enjoyed the school setting. The majority of these poems are told from a teacher’s perspective both in and outside the classroom. It’s been quite a while since I was in a classroom, so the perspective was quite nice. The pieces are somewhat simple and easily digestible which I find to be an interesting contrast to some of the works that pop up in the poems: Kafka, Hawthorne, Chaucer. I also enjoyed the few poems that left the theme altogether. Overall, I think this is a wonderful bite-sized peek into the life of a teacher in a world where they are not exactly praised for what they do.

[James · Rating 2 out of 5]

A couple of intriguing poems, a few images to capture the imagination. But mostly this book reads like the diary of a high school teacher written while class is taking a test. Obviously, Rattle magazine sees much more within that I do. Perhaps you will too.

[Timons Esaias · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a Rattle Chapbook Prize Winner, and I can see why. The poems are prosy but clear, and they move nicely. They are schoolteacher poems, and illustrate many of the frustrations of that situation, along with some of the joy. I empathize.

Four poems stood out for me:
“A Lesson About the Bonks” which is a hard reality lesson.
“The Class That Would Not Eat” which caused me to write YES in the margin, because it certainly describes the resistance that some classes put up.
“Key Card Dawn” which evokes an experience I had many times, and which is the core of civilization: folks who buckle down and do the work, even when it’s hard.
“Drug Dog Visit” which got a laugh, and puts a whole new light on “The Metamorphosis”.

“Forgetting Dante in Third Period” is an almost for me. I wanted one more note, I think.

These poems are quiet, a little depressing, but feel very honest. I’m glad to have read the collection, and I might use one or two of the poems as teaching examples. Again, my only problem was that several of the poems felt prosy, and therefore flat, even when I appreciated the content.

Would I buy another chapbook by this author? Yes. I would.

[Keith · Rating 2 out of 5]

These are mostly observation poems from the point of view of a school teacher. In a few instances, the experience uplifts and surprises with vivid sensory details, making for a very good poem. Some of these are: "Forgetting Dante in Third Period," "Tough Cookies," "Space Walk," "Taking the ACT in December," and "The Fifteen Dollar Vacation." In other cases, too many for my tastes, the poems are critiques of the students, commenting how reticent they are to engage with class material, how bored they are, and how hard it is to get their attention. I fully understand this is a common experience for school teachers, but it does not make for what I consider to be worthwhile poetry.

[Kathy KS · Rating 2 out of 5]

Maybe 2.5*

I found some truths here, especially about classrooms, students, and teachers. My favorite was "A Lesson About the Bonks." Not only does this sound accurate for schools, but many small town librarians over the years have been familiar with the families that drift from town to town, using library resources and then moving on without returning (although sometimes, even years later, the items are returned to another library...).

Better than many of the poetry books I've read for my committee this year.

[Michael · Rating 2 out of 5]

Sometimes I read a book of poems and it makes me feel like I should be writing more because I know that I could do better.
.
I don't understand this idea of (intentional?) obfuscation in poetry. It's like modern poets are trying to hide what they're really trying to say behind any image or mundane memory of their life.
.
Exercise: Write a poem, edit it, revise it, get it ready for submission. Then start over, only this time, begin with the ending of your finished poem. That's where these poems being. The rest is just preamble.

[Andrea Taylor · Rating 4 out of 5]

A glimpse into the world of education. The teachers, the students and the truth of what we really learn. Insightful poetry from Al Ortolani whose Chapbook was the Rattle Prize Winner for 2019. A thoughtful slice of life.

[Allison Nicole · Rating 2 out of 5]

Ortolani captures the little moments that make up a teacher's experience in his stunted snapshot poems. The landscape offers a plethora of opportunities missed in this little chapbook. It suffers from being too mundane with nothing to draw the reader into the world.

[Roxanne Bodsworth · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very enjoyable, light-hearted but also deeply insightful into the experiences of his students. Made me laugh, also touched my heart. More teachers like him are needed, who can find the poetry in the lives of the teens.

[Cassandra Ulrich · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed these poems that covered various experiences at school as seen from a teacher's point of view. Well done.

[Maryfrances · Rating 5 out of 5]

Here's a fine collection of poems that will appeal to many teachers. Ortolani captures well in both poignant and funny moments exactly what students, teaching, and school life is about.

[Sue · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love this book. Ortolani, a Kansas City poet, mines his years teaching high school English for a collection of poems that put us right there in the classroom with him. These short prosy poems capture the scenes in precise details--the Starbucks cup, the rain streaming in sheets across the window, the “tough girls” sharing a tube of cherry lipstick—and then wallop the reader with powerful imagery and a quick turn into something profound. Example: “Occasionally, I have to take/the host of knowledge/and lay it on their tongues,/and even then, on bad days, it just/falls out from between their teeth/onto the gray carpet…” In “Key Card Dawn,” Ortolani writes of “whispering furnaces and electric lights,” dawn lifting as “a curtain opening between the night sky and the sleeping city.” He takes us into the classroom with seniors about to graduate in “Syllabus Change in Late May,” showing them ignoring a movie to tap on their smartphones while outside the gardener is at work. “The driver unwinds a hose from the water tank and begins to soak the newly planted shrubs, the small potatoes, the upstarts.” Simple yet potent. I’ll be looking for more Ortolani, whose newest collection is On the Chicopee Spur.

[James T. · Rating 5 out of 5]

These poems call to mind a statement by Walt Whitman: "The poet hardly knows pettiness or triviality. If he breathes into any thing before thought small it dilates with the grandeur and life of the universe."

Some of the poems in this gathering are distressing, some comical, some peculiar. All are heartfelt. All are more than they appear at first glance.

Read Al Ortolani’s chapbook a poem or two a day, reflect on what’s been laid before you — and called forth from within you — and you will see the world differently; some days from a teacher’s point of view, others a student’s. Always, though, slightly askew; and from that off-center perspective be able to experience more of what really happens in the classroom. - J.T. Knoll

[David Anthony Sam · Rating 2 out of 5]

Bleeding with despair, dripping with contempt for himself, his students, his fellow teachers, and whimsically rich with snark, the protagonist of these poems is an unhappy man.

There are a few gems herein, including "Game Prayer," "Tough Cookies," and Daddy's Car."

[Kristin Runyon · Rating 4 out of 5]

It’s a quick chapbook to read. The poems are mostly about teaching, so it was fun to read. And they are all very accessible.