A Funeral in the Bathroom

Dakos, Kalli. 2011. A funeral in the bathroom: and other school bathroom poems. Ill. by March Beech. Chicago, Ill: Albert Whitman & Co. ISBN 978-0-8075-2675-0

This collection contains poems all centered around an often-unsung center of life and learning--the school bathroom.  From the expected bathroom humor to the secrets of student life that take place away from teacher's observing eyes, the poems paint a comprehensive picture of school life.

The first poem in the collection "Bathroom Poems" describes a teacher who hangs poems on the walls and stalls of the bathroom causing the students to unintentionally read, experience, and learn poems encompassing a wide range of emotions and forms.  These bathroom poems are referenced in a few poems throughout the collection and seem to serve as the inspiration for the student-narrated poetry that fills the book.

Many of the poems employ rhyme or a strong rhythm which make them enjoyable to read or recite aloud.  The bathroom setting also lends itself to onomatopoeic words that describe the water-filled world.  Thankfully the poet limits most of the sense imagery in the poems to the sights and sounds rather than the smells of the bathroom.

At first glance, a book about bathrooms would appear to have all the slightly taboo appeal needed to draw in young readers.  One might expect the entire book to consist of potty humor and silliness, and while there are such poems in the collection, they are tempered by more serious or imaginative poems that depict the school bathroom as a place that is so much more than its humble purpose:  a place to hide, to seek comfort or solitude, a place to daydream or escape the mundane, a place to for students to be themselves.  Young readers will respond to the images and experiences depicted in these poems.

For the most part, the collection is formatted with one poem per page.  A few poems are long enough to take up an entire two-page spread, and a number of the shortest poems share a page.  No matter the length, each poem is illustrated by Mark Beech.  The simple but colorful drawings give as much life to the toilets and mirrors as to the students who appear in the poems.  Many of the illustrations help to further the humor of the poems but they are not crude, which is a fine line to walk given the subject of some of the poems.  Of course, not all the poems are humorous, but the Beech's drawings support the poems no matter the topic or meaning.  The table of contents at the beginning of the book provides access points to the forty-one poems that make up the collection.

With her background as an educator, it's not surprising that  Kalli Dakos finds inspiration for her poetry in the school setting.  In addition to this anthology, she has published more school related poems in If You're Not Here, Please Raise Your Hand and The Bug in Teacher's Coffee and Other School Poems as well as contributing poems to other school poetry anthologies such as There's No Place Like School:  Classroom Poems.  

Featured Poem:

Stuck in His Shoe

He didn't have
a single clue
when the toilet paper
stuck to his shoe.

And followed him
in a looooooooooong line
down the hall
past the office sign,

and right into
our spelling class,
where everyone

laughed

and laughed

and laughed!

The poem could be introduced by sharing a personal story of an embarrassing moment or by asking students to share embarrassing anecdotes.