Tuesday, May 25, 2010

In the Rain

My graduating senior student graduated on Friday. Graduations here are like nowhere else. The mayor spoke and then he sang and then it rained and then the students sang in the rain, and then they graduated in the rain. There is no 'moving it indoors'. Rain is good luck at graduations, birthdays and weddings and everyone just goes on settin' and a rockin' and a singin' in the rain.

And then the students receive leis. So many leis--orchid leis, plumeria leis, candy leis, li hing mui leis, pikake leis, maile leis, ti leaf leis, sweet white ginger leis, stephanotis leis. His wonderful family brought a huge bag of thickly petalled, perfect leis. The leis often pile up to cover the graduate's face and they stumble about like huge flower monsters hugging each other, signing yearbooks and saying goodbye. Hawaiian graduation photos are unmistakable.

My student is a musician a writer a reader and a poet and so I gave him the complete Allen Ginsberg to take to college. He will pack his battered Auden and worn in Neruda. He did it. He fell in love with reading and writing and it will follow him all his life. It is amazing to watch it take hold. To see language and experience weave together to cast their spell. It is a particular magic. It will never let him go. He is done for.

He reads with a careful, examining, passionate ferocity. He asked for a summer reading list. I did not pull my punches. He is already nearly through his first Graham Greene, is at--The End of the Affair and heading towards Brighton Rock. Greene's loose, stony, precise, spare language will join the other tempos in his inner lexicon of voices. His wonderful, wonderful older brother is considering reading the list with him. Middlemarch looms large, sprawling out on the horizon and they will tackle it together. It will win them in the end.

It is a marvelous thing. To watch the interest turn to excitement turn to confidence turn to habit turn to a quiet, calm expanding. There is no going back. I am so happy for him. It is a marvelous thing.

18 comments:

  1. I'm probably being stupid here, but what is a 'lei'? Is it a gift which may or may not be floral?

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  2. it is the wreath, necklace of flowers traditionally given in Hawaii with a kiss. You always see it in movies when people arrive at Hawaiian airports. Of course that is not stupid! thanks for popping over!

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  3. I know that you must be so proud of your student! What a great feeling! Beautiful post....

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  4. How lovely how (rightly so) proud you are of your student, a great post. One thought though: if rain is supposed to be lucky, then London would have to be one of the luckiest places on earth...just a thought ;-) Love from London x

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  5. i remember when my friend greg (from maui) graduated from Hampshire, his family came with a million leis and i had no idea what was happening - why his family gave him flower necklaces to wear! i understood much later on...

    what a wonderful post. your writing about teaching makes me want to go back and major in English and teach! congratulations to BOTH of you!

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  6. mademoiselle poirot, i think it is definitely one of the luckiest places!

    ariel, i will tell him! you did major in english didn't you? you teach your daughter every day!

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  7. i majored in theater and "writing", mostly playwriting - very different than getting to be immersed in books constantly.

    and yes! last night dora fell asleep "reading" frog and toad all on her own, very cute and so thrilling she is finding the love of books at her tiny age! so that did feel great, as a mother!

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  8. How absolutely beautiful! Thanks for painting this word picture for us today!

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  9. when is your graduation? must be coming up soon! congratulations to you and your seniors!

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  10. Graduation is June 3rd. I just spent several hours typing up some beautiful spreadsheets to try to simplify grades. Our district switched computerized grading programs 3/4 of the way through the school year, and it looks like we have to do a whole lot of data entry work because of it. Ugh!But a week from Thursday, it will be all over!

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  11. i only teach a few and am overwhelmed--i can't imagine the amount of work you must have to! congratulations for next thursday!

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  12. Thank you priya for everything you have bestowed!

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  13. you are so welcome angel.

    in case anyone was wondering--this is the marvelous student i have been so lucky to teach.

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  14. Congratulations, Wyatt, and welcome to the asylum, for surely a love of reading becomes a lifelong madness of the happiest kind.

    That graduation ceremony sounds extraordinary! How gorgeous to have the scent of vast quantities of leis mingling with the fresh rain perfume, not to mention a mayor who sings.

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  15. Wonderful tradition! I can visualize the Leis around their necks, stacked high with love.

    Be proud!

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  16. What a lucky student you have - your pride for him is overflowing onto my keyboard! Thank you for telling us about Hawaiian graduations, it sounds like a beautiful sight! This is part of "My Friday Five".

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