Paralyzed Flowers: The Regeneration  by Vicki Milewski

 

The original poetry chapbook was written during my time teaching high school in Chicago’s inner city Du Sable High School.  I wrote poems about certain students and situations I found myself in that had a paralyzing effect.  Paralysis here is seen as to bring to a condition of helpless stoppage, inactivity, or inability to act.  The generational welfare, gangs, drug use and other factors had paralyzed my students.  In some situations I found myself paralyzed to enact a change for them in any way.  The paralyzed flowers are these poems and in doing altering this book I have sought to bring about a regeneration for my students and myself many years later. 

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Each of the flowers in this book are in a state of blooming but they have been paralyzed into this state and have not yet bloomed.

 

Through Face Book, I have been able to reconnect with many of my former students and it is in this re connection that I have found a regeneration of my memories of the time I spent teaching at Du Sable.  Many of my former students are no longer paralyzed and that has helped me, many still are and so I dedicate this work to both these groups of students and to the many teachers out there today who are doing the work of angels.