Responding to Mennonite Identity Poems

In class we read "Mennonites" by Julia Kasdorf, "How to Write the New Mennonite Poem," by Jeff Gundy, and "A New Mennonite Replies to Julia Kasdorf" by David Wright. All three poems are collected in A Cappella: Mennonite Voices in Poetry. Students could respond to the poems with their own poem about identity inspired by these poems.  Here's my attempt:


Explanations

“Methodist,” I used to say
when the neighborhood kids asked me,

because the word began with “M.”
Once I answered “Mormon,” and gained

a friend. She invited me over and when
her parents asked,  I had to confess.

"Mennonites are a lot like Mormons,” I said,
not knowing how exactly, though I felt at home

eating meatballs with her parents and brother,
lingering at the table to talk. At recess, I chose

the German side, because my relatives spoke
Pennsylvania Dutch. But when I went home

my parents quickly explained we weren't
that kind of German. I read about Edith Cavell

who faced a firing squad for helping soldiers
on both sides. "We must love our enemies," Jesus said.

I pretended my blue-gray dress was my
prison drab. Brave like Edith, I'd say

“I’m Mennonite,”
and they would pardon me.

--Ann Hostetler, 9/17/2013