REDemption: The best laid plans....

I asked my students to do a Haiku on some place in the world they have visited.  We have a lot of military students, so some of them have been to unusual places.

First, I wanted them to look at a picture from their time in the place and free write about it.

My picture(s) and my pre-write--

It seems like everybody who comes to China gets his picture taken with Mao. There were tourists—Chinese and foreign—all around us taking this same photo. It was hot that day, and we had walked several miles to get there. How does Mao stay looking so good through all the heat? Well, a ways inside this wall—the gate to the Forbidden City—I visited Starbucks. After that refreshment I bet I look even better than Mao.

I wonder how Mao does it—looks so pleasant after sending so many people to their deaths. It’s funny, too, that his picture guards the entrance to the Forbidden City. “Foreign Capitalist Devil and Chinese Citizen, alike, watch out when entering here…unless you want an iced mocha.”

Next, I asked my students to ponder their free writing and then do a Haiku on the subject.

My Mao Haiku

Forbidding man comes;

Pink petal of redemption

Wilts in the cauldron