Remember the time you lent me your car and I dented it? I thought you’d kill me ... But you didn’t.
Remember the time I forgot to tell you the dance was formal, and you came in jeans? I thought you’d hate me ... But you didn’t.
Remember the times I’d flirt with other boys just to make you jealous, and you were?
I thought you’d drop me ... But you didn’t.
There were plenty of things you did to put up with me, to keep me happy, to love me, and there are so many things I wanted to tell you when you returned from Vietnam ... But you didn’t.
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After Reading Think Pair Share
Read the poem again. How does the poem make you feel? What images (pictures) come to your mind as you are reading the poem? Think: Working alone, take one minute to think about your responses to the two questions above.
COMMUNICATION Pair: Share: As a class, share your responses to the poem. LITERACY
Share your information with the person next to you and discuss your responses. MANAGING MYSELF
Check your understanding 1. From whose perspective is this poem written?
BEING CREATIVE
R E E L
2. Describe the relationship between the speaker in the poem and the person they are speaking to, using evidence from only the first three stanzas. R E E L
3. What do we learn in the final stanza? Does this change how you feel about the relationship depicted in the poem? How?
MANAGING INFORMATION AND THINKING 154 R E E L
4. Is the poet’s repetition of the words ‘but you didn’t’ effective? Explain your answer.
