The Last Time as We Are

by Taylor Mali

You don't need a classroom to be a teacher, and you don't need to be a teacher to help someone learn a lesson. Taylor Mali's poetry explores this truth in entertaining and plainspoken ways because "the last thing this world needs is another poem" ("The Call to What We Know"). Whether discussing the language of love or the love of language, the poems contained in The Last Time As We Are prove that "He who dares to teach must never cease to learn."

Genres: Poetry, Teaching, Education

120 pages, Paperback

First published May 30, 2009

About the author

Taylor Mali is a former teacher and classically trained actor who now makes his living as a professional poet. One of the original poets to appear on the HBO series Russell Simmons Presents Def Poetry, he is a veteran of the poetry slam and the author of What Learning Leaves and several spoken word CDs and DVDs. He lives and writes in New York City. For more information, visit www.taylormali.com"

Reviews

[Dorothy Mahoney]

A natural, Taylor Mali is a performer, a teacher, and the best kind of poet with something that needs to be read. A favourite: The Last Postcard, in which he fears not surviving a flight so he writes postcards to everyone he knows with "When you read this,/ know that I am happy/ now, at the moment of writing./ Life is beautiful/ even with the rain."

[Amanda Little]

Some GREAT poems, some that didn't seem to fit. Some poems were amazing and then a line let it fall flat.
Otherwise, I am a huge fan of Mali's work typically. While I don't think this is his best collection, I appreciate the art of many poems in it.

[Allison]

Loved reading this work, i enjoyed the different divisions and seeing how it all flowed together

[Horace]

I wanted to love this collection of poems, like I loved The Whetting Stone, but I just couldn’t.

[Art]

I lent out the first copy of the book, so I got it in Kindle format. It has been years since I read it last, I enjoyed it just as much. Again, I recommend this, especially to teachers.

[behsforensics]

Cutting is for Lift Off and Miracle Workers
By Donovan Livingston and Taylor Mali

[Faith Marie]

I really liked this read. I completely understand how people can read the poetry and be moved to become teachers.

[Matthew Huff]

As a teacher and lover of poetry myself, there is much in Taylor Mali's poetic voice, humor, and gravitas that I found infectious and compelling. Beloved for his inimitable slam poetry, both in style and delivery, Mali performs the difficult task of transferring to the written page with flair and eloquence.

Several pieces in this collection struck me deeply, treating such topics as teaching, love, memory, and death with extraordinary depth and power without sacrificing profound clarity and, at times, utter simplicity. Mali is a national treasure, and I admired TLTAWA very much; it is an excellent beginning to Mali's body of work.

Recommended poems: "The Moon Exactly How It Is Tonight", "Tuesday Nights Outside the Church of Gustavus Adolphus", "Miracle Workers", "The Mysteries of the Jack and Spare", "Tony Steinberg: Brave Seventh-Grade Viking Warrior", "The Last Time As We Are", and "Remember Me from Now."

[Ronnie Stephens]

Taylor Mali has long been one of my favorite poets because he never apologizes for his overwhelming desire to be the best at everything he does. Often described as the "villain" of the slam community, Mali has an attention to detail and craft that is unmatched by most performance poets. I was so excited to see this collection on the Write Bloody Publishing site that I ordered a hardback copy before it was even released. The first time I read it, it took a day. Since then, I've read it at least a dozen times because I always discover nuances and one or two clever turns of phrase that had previously escaped my attention.

Mali is an ideal poet to share with any educator, as he writes about teaching with the same love and patience that teachers master in the classroom. His poems are almost always appropriate for teenagers, who love his sarcasm and wit, and several are even fun to read aloud with younger kids. The best part is, Mali shows incredible growth in this collection. While always a stalwart in competition, Mali was not content for his poems to merely exist on the page. He wanted them to belong there. Well, they do more than just belong - they resound from the bookcase, begging to be read again. Simply fantastic.

[C. Varn]

Mali is a didactic poet par excellence. I became familiar with his work during the def poetry jam and his valorization of teachers led me into the public school classroom for several years. Mali's work is often hyperbolic and highly emotive, and many of his earlier poems worked significantly better in performance than on the page. However, in the last ten years, without losing any of the performative or didactic power, Mali's poetry has become more readable on the page--the cues not relying as much on performance or his comic or dramatic timing. This book is organized in three sections: "Lifework," "Classwork," "Homework." The sections are aligned clearly with topics: Mali can be a workman in these poems, carefully stacking lines that can seem prosaic when read in isolation. Mali also writes, sometimes explicitly, for a teen audience, and his wit and sarcasm does hit that audience the way Billy Collins drier wit can hit readers who are a little older, but I have learned to appreciate and even love Mali's voice, which works on the rhythm of every life matched with the rhythm of performed poetry. A recommend.

[C]

There are a lot of cool poems in here, even if he is a bit samey with certain phrasing. He's really original in others, I don't read a whole lot of funny poetry and there are funny parts.

His best funny poem you can watch here if you're thinking about getting the book (available on Kindle, as a book of poetry, means you'll always get a semi-favorable review) it's called "I'll Fight You For the Library" : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2qXgPf...

[Vicki Sherbert]

Poetry stays with us long after we read it. From this collection "The Ocean Inside, or, Why One Teacup Fell and Not the Other" reminds me of the need to fill the empty places with what sustains me. "Miracle Workers" articulates common yet unique moments in the lives of teachers . Mali captures the essence of lived experiences with his honest humor and heartfelt wonderings.

[Kemlo]

Enjoying seeing Taylor Mali at a Capital Center for the Arts school series event and was inspired to buy this book afterwards. Although I don't agree with all of his ideas about teaching (as presented in some of this poems), I like his sense of humor.

[Kendall]

This collection was largely disappointing for me. At times, too rhyme-y. At others, too preachy. I'm fine with a conversational voice in poetry, but Mali misses the mark more than he hits it in "The Last Time as We Are".

[Miami University Libraries]

King Library (2nd floor) | PS3613.A4455 L37 2009

[Art]

Mali's newest book. Again, I highly recommend this book--especially to my teacher friends.

[Brenda Wright]

I love words and he manipulates them so smoothly and so... poetically!

[Acurtis49]

A 3 star pic but 4 in the moment. Especially when you can call Mali's passion to mind. The next time I reread I'll likely stop back by and give it a star bump.

[Joe]

I think Mali's poetry is best performed aloud,and this collection is no exception. Some of the wording is overdone, but most shows brilliance.

[Paul]

Some very insightful poems, some very personal, all of them entertaining. A good read.

[Troy Ketch]

I really enjoyed these poems. They are focused on story and, for the most part, easy to understand. Many of them are about teaching; I like those the best. Thank you, Melanie Cameron.

[Lizzie]

Loved this, beautiful and full of some many emotions.