As we prepare to begin our January Open Write—a time for teachers to come together over five days to nurture our writing lives, witness one another’s words, and gather ideas to support student writers—we want to take a moment to hold our California teachers and friends in our thoughts. The devastating fires weigh heavily on our hearts, and we hope this space offers some solace and connection during such a challenging time. You can learn more about Open Write here.
Our Host: Shaun Ingalls
Shaun lives in Las Vegas where he teaches high school English. When he is not buried in journal articles as part of his Ph.D. studies in Instructional Design and Technology, he is exploring the world with his beautiful wife, Aigul, his brilliant daughter, Aliza, his fearless son, Leo, and their neurotic Bichapoo, Lucky.
Inspiration
The constant evolution of language fascinates me. It’s always changing. Evolving. No duh! For those who can’t hang, it’s time to take a chill pill and adapt to the gnarly new lingo. Don’t have a cow, dude!
Today’s inspiration comes from the brilliant work of Richard Franks’ Shakespeare for gen Z series. Franks Gen Z Shakespeare: Romeo & Juliet Edition. Although this isn’t poetry, the same process can be used to compose original poetry.
I love using modern, colloquial speech to retell the classic, dusty texts that we use in the classroom. If you want to know if students truly understand what they are reading, have them retell it in their own language – slang and all.
Process
Use the newest, freshest vocabulary to flex your poetic muscles. If you need a dictionary, check out Wikipedia’s Glossary of Generation Z Slang.
There are many different ways to write today:
- Select a text (story, poem, essay, etc.) to retell using Gen Z parlance.
- Choose a character from an older text and write the poem from their perspective using modern speech.
- Just write a poem about anything using any interesting language from any time period.
Since my students are about to read Plato’s “Allegory of the Cave,” my poem is Glaucon’s version of events if he were a teenager in 2025.
Shaun’s Poem
“Plato’s Ohio Cave”
Listen up, Fam.
I just had a convo with my boy, Socrates.
He told me about some dudes in a prison cave, no cap!
You won’t believe what went on in that trash cave! Totally sus.
Here’s the tea.
There was this group of beta’s chained up in the cave.
Behind them burned a fire, but they couldn’t turn their heads to see it.
All they could see were shadows on the dingy walls.
People would walk and talk behind them, carrying merch and such, but they couldn’t make out the details.
They couldn’t even see the sun!
One lucky rizzler with max aura was set free and led out of the cave.
The sun was hella bright at first, but he got used to it.
Everything he thought he knew about the world was low-key different.
Talk about gaslighting!
When he went back to tell the squad what’s up, they ghosted him.
His vision was dope during cave-times, but now he couldn’t see jack.
The vibes in the cave were giving “outsider” energy,
So bro went back to the surface where things were dope and less cringy.
To be honest, I think Socrates needs a vibe check.
He is literally the CEO of cringe.
Your Turn
Now, scroll to the comment section below to write your own poem. (This is a public space, so you may choose to use only your first name or initials depending on your privacy preferences.) Not ready? That’s okay. Read the poems already posted for more inspiration. Ponder your own throughout the day. Return later. And, if the prompt does not work for you, that is fine. All writing is welcome. Just write something. Also, please be sure to respond to at least three writers.
Shaun, thank you for today’s prompt. It was challenging, yet engaging. I love the “tea”. I could imagine doing this if I was a classroom teacher. This is a way to check for comprehension and for students to engage with the text. Thank you again. I chose a classic poem, “Mother to Son” by Langston Hughes.
https://www.familyfriendpoems.com/poem/mother-to-son-by-langston-hughes
Mother to Son- Modern Day
Jessica Wiley
Well, my Prince, peep this,
It’s hard out here, life in these streets.
No cap, it’s something serious.
With cracked asphalt and potholes
And roundabouts,
And construction zones,
And streets with no way out-
Dead end.
But I understood the assignment.
I’se lit.
And woke to the problems.
And chillin’ on the vibes.
And nah on the fakeness.
Periodt!
Climbing out of the dark.
So, Son, don’t punk out.
Don’t be lazy.
It ain’t easy.
Oof! Don’t stand down!
Keep it moving!
For I’se ain’t goin’,
I’se still standing,
It’s hard out here, life in these streets.
I can not.
Literally can not even.
No cap.
Bruh, the ways these kids spit nowadays…
SMH!
Shaun, thanks so much for the fun prompt! Your poem was definitely not mid.
I couldn’t resist returning to my 80s roots and it reminded me of one of my fave books (“books”) ever when I was a teen: Fer Shurr! How to Be a Valley Girl — Totally! by Mary Corey and Victoria Westermark. It was so totally awesome, fer shurr!
I wonder who was
gagged with a spoon
and, thus, inspired
to coin this phrase?
And, why, oh why
would anyone want to be
barfed
out a door?
The knotty
oak tree’s burl
and my grandma’s
hands
wonder why gnarly
was an envied state?
And I still remain
unconvinced
that tubular
is the optimal
shape.
Totally rad, Wendy! You brought me right back to the 80s.
Tubular is totally an optimal state, Wendy! Thanks for this tour through 80s slang!
Shaun, thank you for this inviting prompt! I used it to start poems in two different directions, neither of which give your prompt its due! Such is poetry. Such is life.
I struggled a bit with this prompt, too. I’m glad you tried and that you gave yourself a little grace.
Four more days to be creative! <3
Delusionship
By Mo Daley 1/18/25
For today’s parlance I don’t give a whit
The vernacular of the day doesn’t suit this geriatric brain
Their vernacular is a cacophony to my auditory system
The urchins of today might try speaking a lingua franca
Bridging the gap between our languages—
But bruh, how about starting with please and thank you?
Love it, Mo! My initial poem was a rant about Gen Z language, but yours nails it in a subtle way.
Haha, thanks for this, Mo. I love your formal language. “Their vernacular is a cacophony to my auditory system.” Nice use of bruh, and good closing message.
I’m with you! I can’t even muster the energy to figure it out. I just act like I get it and pray they aren’t dogging’ me out! 🤣🤣🤣 Thank you, Mo and I hope you’re feeling better.
Great point!
Please and thank you is always a great place to start!
I LOVED this prompt! As a science teacher in high school I am always looking for activities to get my students engaged in their learning. Thanks so much for such a fun and enjoyable prompt to kick off 2025. I just finished teaching a physics course, so of course by poem is about the GOAT, Issac Newton.
My boy Issac
Issac was lit, y’all
No cap, he was sigma
Chilling in the forest
Hanging with his fam under an apple tree.
Pondering gravity
Slaying the mathematical world
In his element when
The apple fell.
He was sus at first
Why did the apple fall on his head?
It seemed sorta extra
That he was chosen.
He low-key stated –
Law #1: Once something is moving,
It’s gonna keep vibing unless something stops it.
Law #2: How hard something hits depends on its size and how fast it’s speeding up.
Law #3: Whatever you do, the universe claps back with the same energy but in the opposite direction.
Bussin, the audience said who had gathered around him.
On God, Issac said.
Mona, I really enjoyed your “glow up” of Newton’s three laws of motion, lol! He really was “lit” and “slay[ed] the mathematical world.” Thanks for this!
This is great, Mona! I do like the idea of having students use their slang to show content knowledge! I just might have to work too hard to know if what they are saying is accurate.
Mona, bravo! Isaac and Mona were lit today. Nice summary. I think this could be a great activity for your science students to summarize what they learn!
Amazing command of the language! You’ve cracked their code! XD
Hi Shaun,
Thank you for this fun prompt! I really needed the extra help, so the dictionary was perfect! This haiku is in response to the unbelievably inconsiderate and deplorable ways my superintendent responded to the wildfires in our communities. I never should’ve been at work on Wednesday last week feeling like everyone was in harm’s way. Thanks to all here at Ethical ELA who reached out. Grateful my school and home were safe. But we have students/staff whose lives will never be the same.
The district “Soop” is
Giving delusionship vibes
Sus af, no cap
©Stacey L. Joy, 1/18/25
Stacey,
I am so sorry for what you are dealing with and for the poor leadership. I am filled with compassion for your Californians.
Thank you!🙏🏽
Stacey, I’m so sorry for what all of you are going through. This seems like adding insult to injury. Hugs to you.
Thank you, Mo. He forced teachers and students to go on Zoom school with no warming or prep. Then they sent social emotional support slides for teachers to use and one of the prompts was about a candle being lit and starting a fire!!!! I can’t make this nonsense up. Parents are rallying to have the idiot fired. Between him and Stump, I can’t even think straight.
Ugh, what a disconnect. “Here are a few (inappropriate and ineffective) SEL slides that’ll make everything better.” I’m sorry you had to deal with all of this. My thoughts are with you and your community!
Stacey, peace to you and all those students and staff who have been affected. My heart is breaking for all the loss, so much loss. Your haiku is perfect, and it makes me sad you had to write it. Your use of the Gen-Z language right on target. I’m feeling it all.
Much appreciated, Denise. 💜
Stacey, I’m so sorry to hear this! I’ve been thinking of you and wondering how you were doing. This sucks. 🙁
Stacey,
Ugh! WTF is wrong w/ people? I’m shocked your superintendent has been so insensitive and so cavalier w/ your school community’s safety. I’m so sorry for all of L.A. and worried about what’s to come given the felon’s resurrection. The last line of your poem is perfect, but I sure wish writing it hadn’t been necessary.
Stacey, hugs to all of you. It has been devastating watching this from across the country. I can’t even imagine being in the middle of it. We were in LA and Yosemite in 2017 and saw the effects of the fires that summer but it was nothing compared to watching LA on fire. I am so sorry for your superintendent’s lack of awareness and empathy and for all the suffering of everyone affected.
Shaun, this prompt, your poem, and the mash of Gen Z vocab with the 1600s was a hoot! I can’t wait to throw this to my kids and see what they make of it. Not sure any of this makes sense but here we are:
Macbeth Tax
Macbeth:
Skibidi, Banquo!
Those three Karens
just threw the most
out of pocket lore.
I am shook!
It’s my Kingdom Era.
Imma need a fit check.
Time to secure the bag.
Witches:
Macbeth is cooked.
Seriously.
Out of pocket.
I mean, he’s giving iPad kid vibes
so much so
that the crown doth sear his eyeballs.
What a delulu!
But his wife?
What a #girlboss
Time to ghost.
Ha! I loved this! #girlboss. This was perfect for Macbeth.
I love this, Jennifer! That crown doth sear his eyeballs! Time to ghost. This is a modern Cliff’s Notes for Macbeth.
Jennifer, wow! This will be so great for your students, methinks! Very fun use of language and the short lines with punctuation makes me slow down and read it more deliberately.
Ha ha! Loved this, Jennifer!
Vacate My Turfy Terra Firma
Language, like life,
will find a way, I get that,
I don’t need Goldblum
in some Jurassic
Park movie to explain
it to me. Language changes,
transforms, molts it’s skin:
one day Awesome Sauce is in,
and the next it’s out-of-stock
and could very well get you canceled.
We’ve jabberwockyed enough words
to make Carroll’s head spin,
like that top in Inception,
until words, real, legit,
honest-to-goodness words
are nothing but “a dream
within a dream” “for there is
nothing either good or bad
but thinking makes it so”
(Poe and Hamlet want to
thank you for coming
to their TED Talk).
Now, I am, admittedly,
a bit slow on the
up take; it was
only this past year
when I first realized that
the first Little Piggy,
the one going to the
market, was not, actually,
going to the market
to, you know, buy
groceries and stuff,
laundry detergent,
cosmetics, I don’t
know, whatever it is
a growing little piggy
needs,
but sometimes it’s tiring
being ever vigilant,
having to curb Skibidi
toilet and Hawk tuah
conversations during
“academic” discussions
and some days it’s like
walking head first into an
Anthony Burgess thresher
where every line, every
turn of phrase feels vaguely
violent and/or sexually motivated
like a few month ago when I felt
the need to explain to some
of my seniors that, guys,
you know, jokes about
sexual exploitation and
human trafficking are
simply just not funny
when they were
animatedly talking about
buying a lifetime supply
of baby oil and making
“Free Diddy” signs to
display at Homecoming
so, it came as a relief,
of sorts, believe you me,
when yesterday I sat at my
desk and eavesdropped
on this freshman conversation
at a small table of students
next to my desk:
Hey, stop kicking me, stay on
your side, stop trying to play
Toesies with me.
To which his classmate replied,
Do you mean footsies?
Whatever.
until I realized
that this too,
in context,
could be construed
as a bit Clockwork
Orangy.
______________________________________________
Thank you, Shaun, for this fun prompt and for your excellent (groovy, mondo, cool) mentor poem. It was the shiznit, bombdiggity, rad, wicked, look, I’m just parroting words of my students now, and I have little to no idea what they mean, no cap…i think. Let’s just say that I enjoyed your poem and prompt today, lol.
Scott,
I so enjoyed this poem and all the references. The attention to text features in the italics and parenthetical are so much a part of the poem. You had me smiling at “awesome sauce” and the toesies and footsies. So much fun language here. A celebration and ode.
Happy New Year!
Sarah
I was so hoping you would surface today with a poem! Tada! My first poem this morning was ranting about this “stupid” lingo being used in academic conversations and writing, so I’m really glad you tied that in. And why do they look at Diddy like a hero? I don’t get teens these days!
Thank you for this fun poem. I too pictured the little pig with a shopping basket on his arm. The truth is painful. When it comes to words, we are often on a different plane than our students. A fellow teacher recounted this week how she always shares with her students the word of the year as defined by the American Dialect Society. It ended badly this year.
Once I had a group of students using the term “pimping” to describe some piece of clothing. Once I explained to these 6th graders what a pimp does for a living, they decided they didn’t need to use that word anymore. Your poem was really funny. I especially liked how you began with “one day Awesome Sauce is in,
and the next it’s out-of-stock ” I feel like there is no way to stay ahead of or even part of the word game.
Scott, you bring clarity amidst the slang – not an easy task! You were celebrating language while playing with it (awesomesauce/out of stock; toesies/footsies – I so wanted dogsies in there), a direct nod to the prompt. Love this!
Scott, I always love to see how you are going to respond to the prompt. You show us so much of your life and dealings with others in so many snippets of life and love. Very fun!
Well, I definitely learned some new slang. Thanks for the prompt, Shaun.
Simon, IFYKYK
he’s out of pocket
weaving down Main Street
lacking BDE
Policeman Bill vibe checks
but he’s cooked
the choir GOAT
perhaps he hits different
no one knows
his lore
no one hears
his dank musical notes
he composes on the fly
tying a final knot
he crashes out
dead asf—oof
Barb Edler
18 January 2025
Barb,
I felt like I imagine some students do when reading a historic poem — feeling like it was not written for me or in a language that makes it accessible to me. I am not the audience. But then, of course, with a little work, I learned some things. Deciphered or decoded terms and made some sense of most of it. I am not sure what to make of BDE or if I can use it in a sentence or under what context I might use it, but I am in the know now because of you. Thanks for the lesson and fun poem. oof is right.
Sarah
Barb,
Hahaha—“lacking BDE”! I love that and wish I’d added it to my poem. Revision time! I love the double meaning in “cooked the choir GOAT.” I can’t help but want to read this as commentary on lots of has-beens who need checked, And “no one hears / his dank musical notes” is perfect for all of them. That said, I’m still not completely sure (clear) on some of this. I need a Gen Z IEP! Fun poem!
Barb,
I feel that with every poem I read, I’m starting to understand these terms more (not sure if that’s good or bad). It’s like acquiring a new language – with use comes familiarity. Love the “lacking BDE and the crashing out “dead asf.”
Barb, so succinct and powerful. Even though I don’t know, I am intrigued and feel like I get to know him through your description here.
It’s the character Simon Stinson from Our Town.
Guy De Maupassant’s The Necklace
as told by Mathilde
Bruh.
Dunno how I ended up
with this beta boy.
I mean, no cap, I slay:
Face card, flawless.
Peak Queen energy.
And I end up with a dude
that stays fumbling the bag,
everyday, sad face emoji.
So one day, he comes home–
he’s youzh delulu– but now he’s all
sixth sense, realizing we’re about to
downgrade to a situationship,
talkin’ bout “We going to a ball!”
I’m like, “I look like Cinderella, bish?!?”
Either I slay or no way.
FRFR, he understood the assignment,
cuz he had me drippin’–iced out–
hair done, nails done, everything did.
I mean the candy crush necklace was borrowed,
but oh well
Night of the Ball, strictly main character energy.
Err’body glazing me, looking gagged,
while thee other bougie bots lookin’ like NPCs,
I COOKED.
So now it’s time to leave and
my coat is a real glow down.
I know these folks are all OPPs,
so I bounce before they can throw salt on the game,
but when I reach for my necklace, it’s ghost!!!
It’s like someone snatched it up and yeeted it out the window!!!
Iwas caught in 4K
and now I’m Cinderella frfr,
Raggedy Ann with a skill issue.
I swear I could just unalive myself,
but that would just be more tea for the opps.
Oof.
Dave, very fun poem. I love the closing metaphor. Well played!
Dave, I want to give this version to my students as an alternate to de Maupassant’s. They’d be invested from bruh all the way through. I loved the entire Cinderella ball/candy crush necklace and the subsequent description of its loss. This is incredibly clever.
Dave, great title that helps one read your poem. I am needing to use Google translate a lot today! Even though I used some of the same words (gagged, main character, yeet), I’ve already forgotten what they mean. Well played!
Shaun, thanks for hosting. I needed an education to write! LOL! Fun, unique prompt. Great mentor poem. I’d love to use this w/ students if I were still in the classroom. I’m including the website I consulted for slang.
conman g.o.a.t
yo, fam, i’m gonna clapback:
where that mofo’s threads?
he goin 4 bougie but gettin cheugy
that glowup puffer ain’t dank
nobody salty bout dat
i mean, TFW big yikes!
his stan crew so simp, they
should say, “dude, that’s no drip!
you in skin like b-day suit.”
it’s a L, so sip tea & take
several seats ‘cause vibe check:
ugly orange hits different
i’m gonna finna bomb that shizzz
no capp—he ain’t snack! iykyk!
Glenda Funk
1-18-25
https://parade.com/1293898/marynliles/gen-z-slang-words/
*Inspiratiin: The Emperor’s New Clothes. I’m sure you know who I’m talking about. 😂
Hey Glenda, I can’t imagine who you’re talking about, lol. You really took it there with the slang! “Glow up puffer” is great!
Too funny, Glenda. Loved “dude, that’s no drip!
you in skin like b-day suit.” You really have the rhythm playing throughout this and the TFW big yikes is spot on! Strong voice throughout!
Glenda, “you in skin like b-day suit” – bwahaha! Love the reference to Emperor’s New Clothes, cuz ikik!
Glenda, yes, indeed. I love “take / several seats…” and “he goin 4 bougie but gettin cheugy” I’ve learned a lot today! Thanks for the link.
You nailed this one! It’s flowing like it’s your primary language!😂
Stacey,
I need Google translate to understand what I wrote! 🤣
Shaun, Thanks for affirming an assignment I often gave my students and we found the same result. When my reluctant guys realized that they could write one of the soliloquies” in contemporary language, they realized they could read “Shakespearean” English after all! You offered me an opportunity to share a poem written to your prompt for a Shakespeare month celebration in April here on OPEN WRITE! See iink to rap music at the end.
Romeo Rap: Timeless and Timely
Cruising knightly with our homies
Hanging out much too late
Getting into so much trouble
Just because of hate
Reverend Joe, he’s a minister,
Walking around our ‘hood,
Warning us not to act so sinister
Saying we should be good.
“Get your learning,”
He would tell us.
“Each of you could be earning
More than you think you could,
More than you thought you would.
Now let’s get going like you should.
“Don’t be hanging with your crew
Doing what you should not do;
Staying out much too late
Attracting trouble because of hate.
“Come on, knights,” he keeps on coaxing.
“Come on, knights,” he keeps cajoling.
“Time to neutralize that hate.
Spread some good! It’s not too late.
“Come on, knights,” he keeps cajoling.
“Come on, knights,” he keeps on coaxing.
“Time to neutralize that hate!
“Spread some good! It’s not too late.
“It’s time to neutralize that hate.
.
Here’s link to music played while writing and then reading this poem.
https://youtu.be/YaUJloqQB8Y?si=hBqpBU789qMG-PoK
Anna, your poem makes me wish I taught ROMEO AND JULIET. I love the rhythm of ““Come on, knights,” he keeps cajoling.
“Come on, knights,” he keeps on coaxing.”
Hope is an app named TikTok
The government did recall
It posted pics, some with talk
And never stopped at all.
Teens flocked to it one by one
Until it dazzled millions
Social media it had won.
It generated billions.
But it was owned by the Chinese.
This could not be allowed.
At risk were our identities,
So TikTok we did shroud.
Katrina,
You picked a timely topic. I suspect Tik-Tok won’t die since the Felon now loves it. I saw a thread that lamented banning Tik-Tok and not guns, and another about Musk, Zuck, et al. scraping our data. It’s maddening.
Nothing like your name in virtual print to motivate 45/47.
What a wonderfully up-to-date poem to reveal the TikTok phenomenon. Love how you were able to smoothly incorporate rhyme.
Katrina, what a confusing issue this seems to be. I know security is important, but I heard John Oliver do a segment on TikTok, and I had further questions. Here’s to wisdom for all involved in the shrouding. I love the first line of your poem. What a great start.
Katrina,
I sincerely hope it doesn’t go away. I’m not addicted to it, but it’s a quick release when I’m in traffic. Your poem is timely (tick-tock) and should be shared with young people.
😍
Shaun, this was great. I’m glad you gave us the link to Gen Z lingo. Who knew? I laughed with “Socrates needs a vibe check” and “CEO of cringe”. So fun!
I had to try with “Jack and Jill” because yesterday I read a redo of Jack and Jill in the style of John Keats by Alan J. Wright. This seemed kind of the opposite of his prompt. https://alanjwrightpoetrypizzazz.blogspot.com/2025/01/a-poem-inspired-by-wendy-cope.html After I wrote my poem and then reread it here, I don’t even remember what most of the slang means!
No Cap
So lore goes,
Always the main character
Jack and his moot, Jill,
without cooking,
Went to secure the bag
Of water
Jack’s dogs tripped
Bucket yeeted
“I oop”
Jill, not usually an NPC,
This time falls in line,
Gagged, no girl bossing,
Out of pocket
No cap
Denis,
This slaps! I’m feeling a little salty of your clever word play.
😂
Love the way you inserted the slang for this one. I especially enjoyed “Bucket yeeted and “no girl bossing.” What a fun way to retell well known tales.
Yesss, Denise! I’m impressed! I wish I had thought to rewrite something familiar that would resonate with my students. This is great!
Hugs!🤗
Shaun,
Thanks for this prompt that pushed me to play with language. I’ve recently read Haruki Murakami’s The City and Its Uncertain Walls. Loved it and still thinking about, wondering about, what it all means. So it was sun to translate some of it into slang.
Murakami’s man
felt good about his pookie
they met at an essay competition
she slayed
Queen
Periodt
and she was looksmaxxing
they were constantly texting
and taking long walks
but then she ghosted him
he stanned her for one of Lincoln’s scores
occasionally he dated other women
but they were too basic
or he was
he travelled to a sus city
strange af
giving unicorn and gatekeeper vibes
to find her
he left his shadow outside the city’s uncertain walls
he became a dream reader
in the library where she worked
she prepared him herbal tea
let him walk her home
but nothing more
the situationship had him tweaking
finally a jit with limited fit
became the GOAT dream reader
went Mike Tyson on him
and sent him packing
back to the real world
he was shook
was he himself
or his shadow?
Sharon, thank you for translating Murakami! This was the study guide that I didn’t know I needed. That line “he left his shadow outside the city’s uncertain walls” is haunting and beautiful!
Sharon, I am not familiar with your literature, but I am intrigued by your final question. Loved the line “he left his shadow outside the city’s uncertain walls”. Really fantastic image!
Sharon, wonderful. I like what Dave wrote, but I’m not familiar with Murakami. However, you taught me a lot about the plot of this novel through Gen-Z’s words. I loved these lines, which I think show the thinking and wondering about the novel that you, and the main character did:
Whoa, Shaun – what a door you’ve flung open here! The idea of rewriting poems and stories in Gen Z is fascinating. A quick zip around the Internet informs me that even the Bible is being rewritten thus (called “holy tea” – ok, now I have to use that).
Your poem flows so well that it seems effortless – that is, of course, the usual result of a LOT of effort and skill.
I almost didn’t take up this challenge because my own initial efforts seemed too awful to share (!!). The curse of the X-er trying to sound Z. Well… that led me to a word: Cheugy. Ok, I can play with that. I almost feel I should include translation and annotation (Chaucer, anyone?), so that the intended meaning of my poem’s language is clear. But I also know you have to trust your readers. Here goes. Big yikes:
A Unfortunately Cheugy
But Straight Fire Poem
4 My Granddaughters
Franna finna
tell you no cap:
being your grandma
is lit lit lit
my girl one
my girl two
both of you
G-O-A-T
4eva to me
y’all my glow-up
as you grow up
just know up
your whole life long
you’re my song
my girl one
my girl two
4eva, for you
Franna finna
defend ya
befriend ya
someday ascend ya
(literally,
not just Gen Z)
where from the heavens
I’ll send ya
some Franna fire
4 your holy tea.
Word.
Right from the start: Franna finna (WOW) to the end, sending some Franna fire 4 holy tea from Heaven and the multiple meaning of Word here – it’s just a masterpiece. Two lucky little girls to have a Franna who will move Heaven and Earth to keep the channels open long into the future!
Fran,
I like the rhythm and rhyme of this stanza, as well as the meaning—fierce love:
Love the ending — slang from my generation: Word.
OH, FRAN! I’m in awe. I so love what you did here. “Franna finna…” says so much. These two are so blessed to have you in their lives, so engaged and “4eva, for you” Just precious! And the rhyming you fit it, just so beautiful!
This could be a rap you actually play with those 2 sweet girls, Franna finna!
At least you did it, Fran. I’m so long retired, that I don’t hear the “next Gen” talking much, so I don’t have a sense of the sense. So, I went back to the slang I knew and wrote in that lingo.
So, congratulations for giving Gen Z slang a try. I like the Franna, for gramma, too. Fun!
This is fantastic, Fran! Frame this and hang it in their rooms!
Shaun, I never thought I would read the Allegory of the Cave and have a new appreciation for it, but you certainly gave me that today as I read your writing.
Your prompt today also reminded me of my recent fixation on the word of the year — which many dictionaries put out, but the one I was particularly fascinated by was the American Dialect Society as they most recently voted on their selection for 2024. I decided to turn their press release into a kind of found poem (with additional lines pulled from other places on their website).
On the American Dialect Society Word of the Year 2024
by Erica Johnson
The word of the year
not necessarily new,
but newly prominent
notable —
in 1992 it was “Not!”
“Nom” was nowhere close in 2010.
But I may crash out,
because the ADS locked in
and with 145 votes selected
Rawdog for 2024.
Defined as to undertake
without usual protection,
preparation,
or comfort.
People rawdogged flights,
family dinners,
and final exams.
A piece of slang
crossing over
from sexual
to (almost) chaste
as we collectively
rawdog
the future.
Erica, one of things I love exploring with words/language is multifaceted meanings, depending on usage. What an interesting found poem here, marking the times with words of the year and their changing meanings. Case in point: even though rawdog had an original connotation that many might find “cringe,” you show us how it has gained broader meaning as “lack of preparation” or doing things the hard way. I looked it up and see that it can go even deeper, to mean reclaiming one’s mental space and connecting with one’s inner self, or as a means of showing how one can tolerate discomfort or solitude. Just wow. Who knew? The depth of words just goes on and on, even if the surface seems…Z-ish. Thanks for this inspiration!
Erica, that’s about as true an ending to a poem that has ever been written. Undertaking the future, without protection or comfort or preparation – – your thinking here and the feeling are mutual. I’m even thinking of the weather event coming this week and feel a little rawdogged right now.
Erica,
I missed this bit of news. What a word. Your poem, especially the last stanza, has convinced me that it’s a good pick—a tall order considering it’s original meaning!
Good luck out there!
Yes, a fellow teacher made the mistake of looking up the word for the first time and reading it to her class. Fortunately, she is unflappable.
Erica, thanks for crafting and sharing this! (On a side note, ADS…um, what?! SMH)
Your prompt couldn’t be more timely. I am choosing to write an anecdote this morning: I assign a new vocabulary each week and this week the word was “hackneyed”. I asked them to respond with a hackneyed phrase and a fifth grader wrote “W rizz”. I tried to say it out loud and the whole class erupted in laughter. Not one of my best teaching moments. I told them I was getting too old to teach, and one sweet student said, “But you’re such a good teacher.” My heart was saved.
Margaret, hilarious! I had a moment like that where I was in the dark and my age blinders were showing. I’m with you, and I love that your sweet student came to the rescue.
Lol, Margaret, I love that your new vocab word was “hackneyed” and that your student vocalized the truth: “[Y]ou’re such a good teacher.” (And thanks for the heads up! [Quickly googles “how to pronounce W rizz.”])
Shaun! This is so awesome! You do such a great job of putting in slang yet making the piece still understandable! Indeed, this would be a fun student assignment. I went down many a rabbit hole this morning! I first wrote a poem raging against all this slang, then I did some research. I wanted to work Gen Z language into something academic-y but that didn’t work. So . . . here you go:
Periodt
Want the tea?
He’s part of my squad
we tight
I’ve started noticing
that he’s serving
and my sis
is shipping us
but I’m a noob
at this stuff
He’s got drip
and so much rizz
I’d like to go from BFF
to bae
I even like his beige flag.
I can’t be big yikes
and def don’t want
to come across as cheugy
but I want more
no cap.
Imma ask him
to Netflix and chill.
He responds
WTTP.
I don’t want to be a Karen
or pop off
but bruh
I want to ghost him.
Then,
after a bit
he sends
LMIRL.
Now, maybe we’re
getting somewhere.
I can’t be a simp,
but I wanna be his GF.
Somehow, he has
the wrong idea . . .
He wants to crash!
He texts CU46.
I am salty!
No cap!
ONG
I yeet my phone.
He can think I’m basic
but Imma curve
Now, I’m hangry
and maybe I’ll get crunk.
How sus!
People wanna ship us
and he wants 53X?
I would have to be tots sloshed
to smash.
I don’t wanna add to
his body count.
Here’s your key:
https://www.parents.com/teen-slang-dictionary-for-parents-8547711
~Susan Ahlbrand
18 January 2025
Susan, I am hung on
Imma ask him
to Netflix and chill.
{{stomachache laughing so hard}}
I like that you added a key – I think I feel a lot like a student reading a book in another language trying to figure out how Imma pass the test. This has been a reckoning of age for me.
I too held the word periodt in that dictionary for a while – – I looked at it and thought, “oh, they misspelled peridot.” It fascinated me, this word. That’s the Karen in me creeping out from the dusty passages of the past, knowing nothing about these newfangled words and sayings and thinking I can see mistakes others missed when I’m the one missing it! Cheers to your amazing poem and to the years that stand between me and the meaning without an urban dictionary.
Susan – amazing!! You speak such fluent Z! I could understand it even if I didn’t know exactly what some words mean. As I said to Shaun: Your poem seem effortless but I know – from experience and from your intro – that it really indicates a great deal of effort. Yet. Look how quickly you turned it out. I’m awed!
Susan – amazing! You speak such fluent Z! I could understand it all even if I didn’t know exactly what some terms mean. As I said to Shaun: Your poem seems effortless. I know, from experience and from your intro, that this is usually the result of a lot of effort. Yer look how quickly you turned it out. I’m awed!
Sorry for duplicate comment. Connectivity issue.
If I am honest, a phrase thrown over
the headrest in the bus ride,
barely legible utterances of my youth,
feels like what searching to be seen means,
or another form of silence. And then,
somehow in some impossible and unimagined life,
no matter how hard words came to my lips,
they found me in utterances
by the thousands, the scattering of syllables
at lockers and lunch tables. Each year
new phrases timebound yet tethered
somehow to my own. Am I wrong to say
I did not want to claim their words?
But I did. I did ask what does that mean
and who can use this phrase and if I did
would I sound like a try-hard? Intentionally
disrupting the insider bound bubble. Even now,
when assigned to new timebound creators
to their own words and song and people
who they will carry into their present and possible lives,
I feel my lips resisting, my fingers not wanting
to tap their words. At any moment, I could though,
make them ours. It’s not gone, that phrase thrower
on the bus, like totally gag me. Our world is always
already changing now, and they will find
new words to make sense of it. One day, such
words will tell the story of it all. It’s coming.
I’m purely smitten with the language of your poem, and I caught myself rereading for the lilts of language – lockers and lunch tables, present and possible, impossible and unimagined, timebound and tethered. Such cerebral energy in the structures you chose. It begs the question of words and meanings and how the evolution of these things is changing at the speed of thought in all the modalities of expression. This one needs to be sung from the rooftops and heard in the hearts of those of us who have a constant wonder-brow, trying to make sense of things.
What an absolutely fantastic homage to the changing of language from generation to generation. It’s hard to resist borrowing phrases from Gen Z when some of them are just so good — but I can relate to your feelings of hesitation as expressed in this poem.
Sarah,
thank you for taking us on this reflective journey.
My favorite parts were:
Your ending fills me with such hope!
Sarah, you wrote my “mental” response to contemporary slang. Initially, I was “insulted” when the Gen X’s students begin notes with “Hey”. I’d say, in my mind” “Hay is for horses! Whatchu mean, Jelly Bean”” and realize I was answering their slang with mine. Oh well!
That’s what makes the group so informative! We learn about ourselves and she others feel the same way. Thanks for sharing.
I feel my lips resisting, my fingers not wanting
to tap their words. At any moment, I could though,
make them ours. It’s not gone, that phrase thrower
on the bus, like totally gag me. Our world is always
already changing now, and they will find
new words to make sense of it. One day, such
words will tell the story of it all. It’s coming.
Shaun, your poem and prompt has me already awake and alive this morning, my mind spinning with all the possibilities for classroom engagement. Thank you for bringing the spark of authentic language today. Your poem is rich with all the Gen Z language, and I’m laughing at the vibe check for Socrates. One thing I could do all day is watch Greg Edwards give his Thug Notes – – I crack up every single time and love this approach to getting on the level of students to explain classics. I have to say: I got an education in that dictionary.
When Sam Fricker Dives
the GOAT looksmaxxes
then plunges without a splash!
who is this diva???
Hi, Kim! I, too, thought about Thug Notes right away. I show them to my teacher candidates at least once to let them know what’s available “out there ” You made me laugh at GOAT. I remembered a student from two years ago, who took several classes with me. When I reminded to fill out the evaluation, he said: “Oh, I just say She is a GOAT in the comments.” I didn’t know what he meant and asked: Should I be upset? 😀
Kim,
I don’t understand. Ha. This is a lesson in language for sure as I am searching for context clues. I had to reread the title because my brain when to “dies,” and I didn’t know Sam Fricker but then realized he is a diver and this is an ode! And it all made perfect sense and was beautiful with the xx’s and the question marks and all caps. Love this and now Sam.
Peace,
Sarah
Kim, what a tribute to Fricker: The haiku queen pens a Z-ku! Can we coin that?? And, now imma have to check out Thug Notes. You are forever an inspiration – your wit and fun approach never fail.
Holy cow, Shaun! Rad poem, man!
Later, when the sun finally rises and I can rub some words together, Susie
I am with you, Susie! Will think about it later ))