Illustration of mouth & pizza, foot with band-aids, a hurt hand, and bandaged heart
Illustrations by Mallory Heyer; Shutterstock.com (background)
Poem,

My Apologies

By Jennifer Dignan
From the December 2023/January 2024 Issue

Learning Objective: Students will analyze a poem, then use it as a model to write their own.

Complexity Factors
  • Purpose
    The poem explores, in a humorous way, the question of what we are willing to tolerate in exchange for doing or getting the things we want. The poem also raises the deeper question of whether we can find great joy or have meaningful experiences without putting ourselves at risk of failure or disappointment.
  • Structure
    The poem has four stanzas with a repeating structure at the beginning of each stanza. It is free verse (it does not rhyme) and features enjambment (the continuation of a sentence or phrase across a line break).
  • Language Conventionality and Clarity
    Vocabulary: The poem uses conventional, conversational language. Figurative language: The poem’s speaker addresses various parts of their body (the roof of their mouth, their feet, their wrist, their heart) as though those body parts were capable of independent, conscious thought. The poem uses the heart as a metaphor.
  • Knowledge Demands
    To understand the last stanza of the poem, students will need to be familiar with the common use of the heart as a metaphor for feelings, emotions, spirit, or essential nature.
Featured Skill: Analyzing and Writing Poetry,
Common Core Standards
  • Anchor Standards
    R.1, R.2, R.4, R.5, W.4, W.5
  • Grade 6
    RL.6.1, RL.6.2, RL.6.4, RL.6.5, RL.6.6, W.6.4, W.6.5
  • Grade 7
    RL.7.1, RL.7.2, RL.7.4, RL.7.5, RL.7.6, W.7.4, W7.5
  • Grade 8
    RL.8.1, RL.8.2, RL.8.4, W.8.4, W.8.5
TEKS Standards
  • Grades 6, 7, 8
    5f, 5g, 8b, 8c, 9a, 9b, 9d, 9f, 11a

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My Apologies 

By Jennifer Dignan

To the roof of my mouth

just behind my front teeth: I am sorry I

have burned you so many times

on pizza; I can never wait.

Honestly, I know I will do it again

and again. So please forgive me for the burns of the past

and for the burns of the future too.

To my feet: I acknowledge your complaints;

your dissatisfaction has been heard.

The thing is those shoes look good and

they were quite expensive.

For what it’s worth,

I will bring some Band-Aids

next time.

To my left wrist: I hope it’s obvious

that I did not mean to sprain you. Who knew

wet grass could be so slick? Of course,

if I’d been walking not running, if I’d been paying

more attention . . . ah, well,

the past cannot be changed,

and you seem to be healing nicely.

Illustration of a heart wrapped in a bandage

To my heart: I have failed to protect you

many times. You are fragile, and it is never my wish

to see you in pain. But please understand,

it is only by putting you at risk

that I can set you up for bliss. Besides,

while you may be fragile,

you are also strong.

Icon of a lightbulb

Writing Prompt

Write a poem titled “My Apologies.” Your poem can be to yourself, to a part of yourself, or to another person, place, or thing. 

This poem was originally published in the December 2023/January 2024 issue.

Audio ()
Activities (3)
Skill-Building Activities
Answer Key (1)
Audio ()
Activities (3)
Skill-Building Activities
Answer Key (1)
Step-by-Step Lesson Plan

Close Reading, Critical Thinking, Skill Building

Download the Lesson Plan

Table of Contents

1. Prepare to Read

2. Read and Discuss

3. Write Your Own

1. PREPARE TO READ (5 MINUTES)

Do Now: Journal and Discuss (5 minutes)

  • Project the following prompt on your whiteboard for students to respond to in their journal or on a piece of paper. 

Write a short note to yourself or to another person, place, or thing, apologizing for something you did. You can write about something serious, but you can also keep it light. Here are some examples:

  • apologize to yourself for staying up too late and making yourself tired
  • apologize to your brother for leaving your stinky socks on the bathroom floor
  • apologize to your glasses for breaking them

 In your note, be sure to state the following:

  1. what you did
  2. why you did it
  3. whether you’ll ever do it again

  • Invite volunteers to share their responses.

2. READ AND DISCUSS (30 MINUTES)

  • Have students follow along as they listen to the audio read-aloud, located in the Resources tab in Teacher View and at the top of the story page in Student View.

  • For a second read, invite students to read the poem silently to themselves. Then discuss the following questions.

    Poetry Analysis (25 minutes)

The following questions can be shared in printable or interactive form.

  1. How many stanzas are there? four
  2. How many lines are in each stanza? seven 
  3. Does the poem have a pattern of rhymes, or is it free verse? (Free verse is poetry that does not have a regular pattern of rhymes.) It is free verse.
  4. Can you find an example of repetition in the poem? Hint: Look at how each stanza begins. Each stanza begins with “To ________: I . . . ” and the blank is always filled in with one of the speaker’s body parts. 
  5. In this poem, the speaker makes four apologies. How sorry does the speaker seem to you? In other words, do they seem really and truly sorry, a little bit sorry, or not sorry at all? Explain what makes you say so. Answers will vary, but students are likely to say the speaker sounds only a little bit sorry, if they are sorry at all. The first two apologies they make, they follow with an admission that they are going to repeat the offense: After apologizing to the roof of their mouth for having repeatedly burned it on pizza, they say they will do it “again and again,” and after apologizing to their feet for wearing uncomfortable shoes, they say “the thing is” and go on to explain why they are planning to wear the shoes again. When they apologize to their wrist for spraining it, they start to reflect on how they could have prevented the accident, but then seem to dismiss that train of thought, saying “ah, well, the past cannot be changed” and noting that their wrist seems to be healing well. They do not sound particularly concerned about it. They sound more earnest in their apology to their heart, saying “I have failed to protect you many times” and “it is never my wish to see you in pain,” but even here, they justify the harm they have done, telling their heart that they have put it at risk for its own good and that they know it is strong—in other words, that their heart can handle being hurt. 
  6. When the speaker apologizes to the roof of their mouth, they are apologizing for physically injuring it. It’s the same thing with their feet and their wrist: They are apologizing for physically injuring those body parts. What about when they apologize to their heart? Are they apologizing for physically injuring that organ? If not, what do they mean when they say, “I have failed to protect you many times. You are fragile, and it is never my wish to see you in pain”? The speaker is not talking about having physically injured the organ of their heart—they’re talking about causing themself to feel disappointment, loss, sadness, fear, or some other kind of emotional pain. In other words, they are using their heart as a metaphor for their feelings and emotions.
  7. In the fourth stanza, what do you think the speaker means when they tell their heart, “it is only by putting you at risk that I can set you up for bliss”? The speaker is saying that true happiness, joy, satisfaction, growth, etc., cannot occur without taking risks. They mean that if they never took any risks—never did anything that could lead to disappointment, frustration, heartbreak, etc.—they would be depriving themself of opportunities that could also lead to great joy.
  8. At the end of the poem, the speaker says to their heart, “Besides, while you may be fragile, you are also strong.” Explain what they mean. The speaker is saying that while they know they are sensitive and that their feelings can easily be hurt, they also know that they have the strength to deal with life’s challenges and disappointments. 




3. WRITE YOUR OWN (30 MINUTES)

  • Have students complete the Featured Skill Activity: Poetry Planner. This activity will help them brainstorm ideas and provide tips for writing their own poem in response to the prompt:

Write a poem titled “My Apologies.” Your poem can be to yourself, to a part of yourself, or to another person, place, or thing.

Text-to-Speech