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49 pages 1 hour read

Jacqueline Woodson

Locomotion

Fiction | Novel/Book in Verse | Middle Grade | Published in 2003

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Pages 51-74Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Pages 51-74 Summary

In “God Poem,” Lonnie is back on the roof of Miss Edna’s house and is careful to avoid glass since people throw bottles up there. He finds solace on the roof, even in the cold, and it’s a place where he can read Lili’s Bible alone. Among classmates at school, Lonnie listens to Ms. Marcus’s directions to write in “All of a Sudden, The Poem” and Angel suggests an idea that makes her smile. Other students toss out similar ideas, hoping to please her too, which annoys Lonnie. Ultimately, he’s frustrated that he has nothing to contribute.

Next, Lonnie’s poem “Hey Dog” shares how this is what his friends call each other when they play basketball. He doesn’t know where this comes from, but it makes him feel good nonetheless. In “Occasional Poem,” Ms. Marcus directs students to write about a specific event, either past or present. When Lamont dismisses her idea to write about his birthday in June, the tone in class shifts. Ms. Marcus sadly suggests writing about January instead. The whole exchange pushes Lonnie’s ideas about his mother’s funeral out of his head, so he decides to write about Lamont and Ms. Marcus arguing instead. Then, as he indicates in “Haiku Poem,” Lonnie refuses to show Ms. Marcus his poems.

In “LaTenya,” Lonnie writes about a scene during recess. He’s shooting hoops by himself when LaTenya approaches, complimenting his eyes, but when he misses a shot, she jokes that he can’t see well. As LaTenya flirts with him, he thinks of his sister and how he has found God. Later in “Poetry Poem,” Lonnie confesses that writing verse is both satisfying and frustrating because sometimes, after revision, the words are perfect, but other times they fail miserably.

“Eric Poem” describes the day the class learns that Eric is hospitalized with sickle cell anemia. In an awkward conversation, Ms. Marcus attempts to tell them more about the disease. When she whispers that it’s most prevalent among African Americans, the class looks around uneasily. Lonnie envisions her words bouncing off the walls around him, and when Ms. Marcus suggests that they make Eric a card, Lonnie tries to focus on the things he loves, but all those things rhyme with sickle cell.

In “Lamont,” Lonnie writes about how his friend is angry, refusing to write poetry because, he insists, Black guys don’t write poetry. Ms. Marcus disagrees, naming Richard Wright and Langston Hughes. Someone says they know a Richard Wright who played basketball recently and then shares that someone else they know was just shot and killed. When Lamont asks if those poets made a lot of money, a conversation about poverty and happiness ensues. After a while, Ms. Marcus falls silent, and then she suggests that they write poetry. As they quietly concentrate, she just stares at her hands. However, in the next poem, “Hip Hop Rules the World,” the tone shifts when Lamont excitedly learns that rap and hip hop are poetry too.

In “Photographs,” Lonnie describes a picture of him and Lili on Easter and another image of his parents dancing; when he looks at the second one, he can hear his mom’s laughter. In the final photograph of the whole family, everyone is smiling except Lonnie, and he wonders if he knew then that something bad would happen. Next, in “New Boy Poem III,” Lonnie notes that the new student tells people to call him by his name, Clyde, not the mean nicknames everyone gives him.

“Happiness Poem” recounts how one day Lonnie comes home to find Miss Edna dancing in the kitchen. He worries that she’s losing her mind, but he’s relieved to hear that she’s happy because her son Rodney will visit on Easter. This prompts a memory of his own mother: In “Birth,” he describes how she called Lonnie a survivor because he was only four pounds at birth.

Pages 51-74 Analysis

As the narrative progresses, The Healing Power of Writing becomes even more apparent. As with anything, though, that process isn’t always perfect. Lonnie notes:

You don’t just get to write a poem once
You gotta write it over and over and over
until it feels real good to you
And sometimes it does
and sometimes it doesn’t
That’s what’s really great
and really stupid
about poetry (62).

First, he emphasizes that writing words down isn’t enough but that it’s beneficial to revise multiple times. For Lonnie, sifting through ideas can be “real good” because it helps him clarify his thoughts and feelings. However, sometimes, even with edits, the words can’t capture his ideas. Like other coping mechanisms, poetry isn’t a perfect solution. However, when Ms. Marcus asks to see his writing, Lonnie says, “No way. / Some things just your own” (59). For him, the purpose of writing is to reflect and heal. He writes not for himself, not for others. This tool of introspection pushes him through the grieving process. Later, in “Lamont,” he shares, “I like free verse when you can write / anything you want / any way you want” (67), but he struggles when Ms. Marcus advises that there is a time for structure too. Lonnie considers this “a stupid, very teacher thing to say” (67). Preferring free verse, Lonnie needs an outlet to let his ideas and emotions flow. Struggling with structure mirrors his life struggles to grieve and move on from the loss of his parents. His frustrated reaction to Ms. Marcus’s statement about the periodic need for structure highlights his youth and how mired he is in grief: He can see only what he wants to see and not everything that might help him.

By this point in the novel, the characterization of Ms. Marcus is more developed, and her support of the students and Lonnie’s writing is complicated by her awkwardness when addressing issues of race. When she informs the class about Eric and sickle cell anemia, she’s clearly uncomfortable: “[S]he stops talking / looks around the room for minute / then she kind of whispers” that the disease disproportionately affects African Americans (64). Her pause and whisper indicate her discomfort in addressing race, suggesting that she’s white. In fact, earlier in the year, she tells Lonnie that he doesn’t have to mention race when describing people in commercials, even though Lonnie thinks the actor’s skin color is significant. In response to the news that Ms. Marcus shares with the class about Eric and about sickle cell anemia, Lonnie repeats “Ms. Marcus says” and then indicates that her

words circle
round the room, bounce off the walls
keep zooming
past my head
Zip! Zap!
Like they’re banging against it (65).

The personification of her words and the speed and force with which they hit the walls all indicate how painful the moment is for Lonnie. Although Ms. Marcus intends to be kind, her words sting. Later, when Lamont argues with her about how Black men aren’t poets, a disconnect between Ms. Marcus and her students is evident. Although she tries to break that stereotype by citing examples of Black poets, the conversation goes in a different direction when students talk about a neighbor being shot. Also, when she poses the question, “Do you think poor people aren’t happy?” (69), the kids talk about the ads they see on TV and how desperate the kids are. Something shifts in Ms. Marcus because she’s suddenly “stuck.” The implication is that she thinks they’re poor. In trying to debunk stereotypes, she makes assumptions about her own students. Her guilt in this moment is evident when she looks down at her hands. Despite her good intentions, Ms. Marcus’s impact on Lonnie and the other students isn’t always as positive as she thinks.

Additionally, Lonnie’s tone shifts repeatedly between sad desperation and a hopefulness, which is often reflected in the structure of his poems. Beginning with lingering sadness, he then addresses the joys of friendship in “Hey Dog.” Later, after LaTenya flirts with him, Lonnie writes of happiness. Later, he notes how poetry can be both wondrous and disappointing and then comments on how his thoughts revert to sickle cell anemia. Another shift occurs when he shares the excitement of hip hop being poetry but then becomes melancholy while looking at family photos and pondering how the new boy is ostracized. Nevertheless, immediately following is a poem about Rodney coming home for Easter and how his own mother once lovingly called him a survivor because he was born prematurely. The shifting tones and structures of these poems is jolting, but they mirror Lonnie’s changing emotions as he struggles to make sense of himself and the world around him. Like poetry, the world can “[feel] real good to [him] / and sometimes it does / and sometimes it doesn’t” (62). Poetry is the vehicle through which Lonnie expresses himself and provides a metaphor for life. The constant flux of topics mirrors his emotional state. Although he’s finding joy in the people and world around him, he’s still plagued by moments of sadness and desperation.

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