Dear Time Travelers,

In high school we read the poem “My Last Duchess.” The poem is old, uses a lot of tough language, makes reference to a history I didn’t know very well, and I didn’t get it at all. And because I didn’t understand it, I didn’t think it mattered.

But my teacher showed me how wrong I was.

He walked us through the poem and, and I found it darkly funny, subversive, and really, really smart. I was astounded that a human could create something so true and that it could still ring true 150  years later. It seemed like the poet wrote that poem just to entertain me!

Just because something’s old, doesn’t mean it doesn’t matter. Just because something’s tough, doesn’t mean it can’t speak to us.

Sincerely,

Mr. Heimbuck