Tone
Tone
Original Text
Red Silk: An Anthology of South Asian Canadian Women Poets , ed. Rishma Dunlop, Priscila Uppal, and Hiro Boga (Toronto: Mansfield Press, 2004).
1is an important aspect
2of any class text. Ask
3your professor if you may
4say no way! to object, or
5hey! to interject, in any essay
6meant to earn respect.
7You can’t say: this dude
8knows his shit. Nor can you
9say: he’s full of it. To argue
12However and nonetheless
13kick but’s ass. They got
14up-in-front-of-the class.
15Address to impress.
16Your convention hall pass.
17The rules of tone are all
18unspoken. One learns
19the hard way
20that they can be broken.
Notes
10] your joint: your work or expression, as in "A Spike Lee Joint" (Lee's name for a film production). Back to Line
11] vocab: recent abbreviation for "vocabulary" (esp. in foreign tongues, for which see OED "vocab"). game: pluck and mastery to win. Back to Line
Publication Start Year
2004
RPO poem Editors
Ian Lancashire
RPO Edition
2006
Rhyme
Special Copyright
Copyright © Sonnet L'Abbé 2006. Not to be republished without permission of the poet.