Franklin High Teacher Gets Published

Published March 22, 2018

Franklin High’s Michael Watson doesn’t just teach English, he also writes poetry. As it turns out, he’s good at both. His poem, Tennessee Teacher, won first place in the Poet Playground competition in Tennessee Magazine.

The monthly competition is split into six age divisions. First place in each category gets his or her poem featured in the magazine and $50. Watson also received a certificate signed by Tennessee Poet Laureate Magaret Britton Vaughn.

For inspiration, Watson says he often explores the strangeness of memory.

“The more specific inspiration for this poem came from a conversation with a student that I remember being insightful, but when I tried to recall the conversation the next day, I couldn’t remember any of it,” Watson said.

Below is Watson’s poem, which can also be found on Tennessee Magazine‘s website:

Tennessee Teacher

So many notions lost to
Irresponsible memory.
Among them, whatever was
Said in class.
Instead of staying on shore,
It goes quietly to ship
Far beyond the reach,
The recesses, and the Red River;
And try as we might to
Call it up,
To summon it from its
Self-imposed prison,
It shies away again and
Again,
As a sly cat comes close,
And draws away before the
Touch.