Caviardage, of French origin, is based on blackening certain words in a fragment or poem in order to, by contrast, highlight those that are not obscured. This technique was used by artists such as the Italian Emilio Isgrò from the 1960s onwards, and responded to the desire to restore the possibilities of discourse through verb-visual composition.
With this idea in mind, the English department of the I.E. El Pilar (Tetouan, Morocco) worked on poems with our students. The teachers chose six poems that deal with universal human themes:-Man's struggle in the face of his destiny and how to get it to change.
“I am the master of my fate:
I am the captain of my soul.”
Ernest Henley. Invictus
- A father's advice to a son who opens his eyes to life, urging him to hold his head high despite the criticism of others.
“If you can fill the unforgiving minute
With sixty seconds' worth of distance run,
Yours is the Earth and everything that's in it,
And-which is more-you'll be a Man, my son!”
Rudyard Kipling. IF
- The end of the world as something utterly predictable and unstoppable that will come either by fire or by ice.
“Some say the world will end in fire,
Some say in ice.”
Robert Frost. Fire and Ice
- The emigrant's fear of the life that awaits him, the knowledge that he will have no choice but to fly the kite of his dreams in a sky that is not his own.
“Learning how to fly
the kite of your dreams in an English sky”
John Agard .Windrush child
- The woman and her recognition before her own eyes that believing in herself is the way.
“I'm a woman
Phenomenally.
Phenomenal woman.
That's me”
Phenomenal woman by Maya Angelou
- The last poem is a song. It was born from a challenge . I always tell my students that with poetry we can express many things. My student Ahmed challenged me to find a poem about what he likes most, football. I read the lyrics of "Waka, Waka" by singer and songwriter Shakira and thought it should be there, reminding us of an exciting moment for everyone, even for those who, like me, are not interested in football (World Cup 2010. Spain won). The lyrics of the song speak of overcoming and of melting pots. And of Africa.
When you fall, get up, oh oh
And if you fall, get up, eh eh eh
Tsamina mina zangalewa
'Cause this is Africa
