美国国家公共电台 NPR What Is Love? Teachers, Share This Prompt With Your Students

 

RACHEL MARTIN, HOST:

When was the last time a kid in your life said something that just got you in your gut¹? I bet it wasn't that long ago - a well-placed I love you in the middle of a stressful day, an unsolicited hug when you needed one most. We are in that season. And, yes, we can all agree Valentine's Day is a commercial holiday. I know. But it is also a great excuse to talk about how we nurture² those around us, how we connect with others and how we love.

And as our friend, poet and parent Kwame Alexander knows very well, kids are often way better at expressing love and openness than the rest of us. He is in our studios in Washington. Hi, Kwame.

KWAME ALEXANDER: Hey there, Rachel.

MARTIN: So you got two daughters.

ALEXANDER: Yep.

MARTIN: I imagine you have learned some things about loving and nurturing³ from them.

ALEXANDER: I have learned that love is sometimes the only thing that will keep you sane⁴...

MARTIN: Right.

ALEXANDER: ...That keeps me smiling even when I don't feel like it. You've got kids, so you know what I'm talking about.

MARTIN: Absolutely. It is the best medicine.

ALEXANDER: It's actually oxytocin. That's what it is (laughter).

MARTIN: (Laughter) Right. Like a chemical reaction. It goes to your brain. It makes you feel good.

ALEXANDER: It's those moments that when our kids challenge us. It kicks in that we do actually love them. Last week, I was having a little too harsh, I guess, talking-to with my 10-year-old. And, well, she was getting an earful for, like, 10, 15 minutes about honesty and my disappointment regarding a decision she had made. And she just starts bawling⁵.

And so I hug her, and I just tell her, look, I love you. I love you. And part of my job as a parent is to help you become good, is to help you become a kind, happy and loving adult. And I'm just saying this over and over to her. And she's looking at me like, really? It doesn't feel like that (laughter).

MARTIN: Right. I don't feel good.

ALEXANDER: And that's when I remembered this poem.

MARTIN: Of course you did because you're you.

ALEXANDER: (Laughter) I mean, I didn't recite it.

MARTIN: OK, good.

ALEXANDER: But it felt like it would have been the perfect poem for that moment.

MARTIN: Yeah.

ALEXANDER: So this is for the parents listening when your kids question whether you love them. It's called "Resignation" by Nikki Giovanni. And here's a few excerpts⁶. I love you because the earth turns round the sun, because the north wind blows north sometimes, because the winters flow into springs and the air clears after a storm, because only my love for you, despite the charms of gravity, keeps me from falling off this Earth into another dimension. I love you more than I love my privacy, my freedom, my commitments and responsibilities. I love you because I changed my life to love you. I love you. I love you. I love you.

MARTIN: That's it. That's everything.

ALEXANDER: It's that unexplainable, unconditional⁷ love. And it's simply a beautiful thing. I mean, we know how to love our children with kindness and patience and always giving them the benefit of the doubt. We don't take things too personally. Loving our children can really be a model, Rachel, for loving ourselves and each other. Everything we ever need to know about love, we learn from our kids.

MARTIN: For sure. So the next time we talk to you, it's going to be Valentine's Day. And so we want to hear from kids, children, about what love is to them, how they think about it, and use that as a way to remind all of us what's really important in our own relationships in the way that we connect with each other.

ALEXANDER: Yeah. So teachers out there from kindergarten to 12th grade, we would like you to do this activity with your students. Give them the prompt, love is, and let them just go for it. Fill in the blank. Write a line or a whole poem. For example, Rachel, if I were to say...

MARTIN: Oh, you're doing this to me again?

ALEXANDER: Here we go.

MARTIN: OK.

ALEXANDER: So fill in the blank.

MARTIN: Yeah.

ALEXANDER: Love is...

MARTIN: Love is vulnerability.

ALEXANDER: Love is...

MARTIN: Love is scary.

ALEXANDER: Right. Now end it. Give me that clincher. Give me that final phrase. Give me a couple words. Love is - bring it home for me.

MARTIN: It is the only thing. Does that work?

ALEXANDER: That's perfect.

MARTIN: OK, good (laughter).

ALEXANDER: That's a great line (laughter).

MARTIN: All right. So we want to hear you give it your shot. Record your students reciting their entry. What is love to you? And then we're going to share some of these entries on Valentine's Day. You can do this at npr.org/morningpoem. That's where you want to share your students' love is lines and their poems. Again, npr.org/morningpoem. I cannot think of a better way to celebrate Valentine's Day than to read those submissions⁸. Having said that, you got another love poem to share for us?

ALEXANDER: I'll share a final love is poem. Love is the way I feel when your laugh dances across the room of my memory. Love is doing the dishes even when you don't feel like it. Love is you, you, you, you, you, you, then everything else.

MARTIN: (Laughter).

ALEXANDER: Rachel, love is friendship and art. And this canvas called life can be vast and lonesome without a full heart to trust, without a joyful⁹ noise to share, without you, without love.

MARTIN: That is a beautiful thing. Kwame Alexander, thank you so much, my friend.

ALEXANDER: Thank you.

1 gut   

n.[pl.]胆量；内脏；adj.本能的；vt.取出内脏

参考例句：

• It is not always necessary to gut the fish prior to freezing.冷冻鱼之前并不总是需要先把内脏掏空。
• My immediate gut feeling was to refuse.我本能的直接反应是拒绝。

2 nurture   

n.养育，照顾，教育；滋养，营养品；vt.养育，给与营养物，教养，扶持

参考例句：

• The tree grows well in his nurture.在他的培育下这棵树长得很好。
• The two sisters had received very different nurture.这俩个姊妹接受过极不同的教育。

3 nurturing   

养育( nurture的现在分词 )； 培育； 滋长； 助长

参考例句：

• These delicate plants need careful nurturing. 这些幼嫩的植物需要精心培育。
• The modern conservatory is not an environment for nurturing plants. 这个现代化温室的环境不适合培育植物。

4 sane   

adj.心智健全的，神志清醒的，明智的，稳健的

参考例句：

• He was sane at the time of the murder.在凶杀案发生时他的神志是清醒的。
• He is a very sane person.他是一个很有头脑的人。

5 bawling   

v.大叫，大喊( bawl的现在分词 )；放声大哭；大声叫出；叫卖（货物）

参考例句：

• We heard the dulcet tones of the sergeant, bawling at us to get on parade. 我们听到中士用“悦耳”的声音向我们大喊，让我们跟上队伍。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• "Why are you bawling at me? “你向我们吼啥子？ 来自汉英文学 - 中国现代小说

6 excerpts   

n.摘录，摘要( excerpt的名词复数 )；节选（音乐，电影）片段

参考例句：

• Some excerpts from a Renaissance mass are spatchcocked into Gluck's pallid Don Juan music. 一些文艺复光时期的弥撒的选节被不适当地加入到了格鲁克平淡无味的唐璜音乐中。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• He is editing together excerpts of some of his films. 他正在将自己制作的一些电影的片断进行剪辑合成。 来自辞典例句

7 unconditional   

adj.无条件的，无限制的，绝对的

参考例句：

• The victorious army demanded unconditional surrender.胜方要求敌人无条件投降。
• My love for all my children is unconditional.我对自己所有孩子的爱都是无条件的。

8 submissions   

n.提交( submission的名词复数 )；屈从；归顺；向法官或陪审团提出的意见或论据

参考例句：

• The deadline for submissions to the competition will be Easter 1994. 递交参赛申请的截止时间为1994年的复活节。 来自辞典例句
• Section 556(d) allows the agency to substitute written submissions for oral direct testimony in rulemaking. 第五百五十六条第（四）款准允行政机关在规则制定中用书面提交材料替代口头的直接证言。 来自英汉非文学 - 行政法

9 joyful   

adj.欢乐的，令人欢欣的

参考例句：

• She was joyful of her good result of the scientific experiments.她为自己的科学实验取得好成果而高兴。
• They were singing and dancing to celebrate this joyful occasion.他们唱着、跳着庆祝这令人欢乐的时刻。