Art as therapy. Here I sit on GW's couch, thanking you for your patience.
WORD WARS
This child has
word arsenals at her disposal:
barbed arrows, bullets sleek and fast
glib arguments that slice like swords
flame-thrower mouth that spews out liquid fire
How can I counter this?
I hem and haw and lose my way
and struggle with my failing wits
that cannot match her eloquence –
self-serving logic, but so shrewd.
In decades past, was I like this?
So vicious in my confidence
So smugly, blindly, cruelly sure?
Did I too trample down her pride
make mockery of her gentle words
and tangle up her self esteem?
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Written by ellipinnock (1753 comments posted) 27th January 2007 |
The worst kind of wars...it's not so long ago that I was on the flame-throwing end of such a relationship...if it's any comfort - the other side of adolescence has been of untold benefit to the both of us - it didn't last forever  In the mean time keep a firm hold on the pride and self esteem in true L'oreal style (god i hate that catchphrase!)
Liked the poem - heartfelt and eloquently put.
Elli |
Written by francoise (129 comments posted) 27th January 2007 |
has a great pace to it. I liked the opening line, the questions you pose within the piece and the honest way in which you ask them. When i first looked at this i wasn't sure about the construction. It seemed abit too freestyle for my taste, but after having read it I changed my mind completely.
p.s when i read a piece like this out loud I like coming across chance rhymes (like the end words of the 8th and 9th line) not sure if you did that deliberately but it worked for me.
Really liked this.
Fran |
Written by Phil (6645 comments posted) 28th January 2007 |
Liked this Witzl. I always wonder if my eighteen year old will look back in a few years and blush at his narrow vision and hectoring rhetoric. He really is a good lad, but like all teenagers (I suppose) he has prolonged periods of bloody mindedness and sheer blindness.
Was I, were we, like that? Probably internally, but looking back from my thirty-nine years, I think then that we kept most of our ire and frustrations to ourselves. Good thing or bad thing? - Not sure.
Good piece.
Phil. |
HI Witzl
Written by jean.day (2257 comments posted) 28th January 2007 |
The frustration and helplessness of trying to deal with teenagers certainly comes across.
I can remember occasions when as a late teen I was very sharp and cruel in what I said to my parents. And somehow once these things are said, saying sorry doesn't make them unsaid. |
Written by fellpony (1580 comments posted) 28th January 2007 |
Hi Witzl, enjoyed this a lot and I too understand the need to use poems as therapy now and again
Give your teenager a few years and s/he will be amazed at how much "you" have learned since today.
Tongue firmly in cheek, of course.
Nice piece, well crafted as usual.
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Written by JourneyAtNight (314 comments posted) 28th January 2007 |
Great piece, I really enjoyed it.
My mother isn't the type who takes our barbed arrows or bullets lightly. She'll either fight back (which to be honest, makes us flare up even more) or from time to time, let us see how hurt she really, which usually gets to us like a slap in the face.
From someone who has not long left the battle field, I offer reassurance - the end is near. We get on so much better these days, and the occasional squabble always seems so trivial afterwards.
Stay strong soldier, you'll laugh together about it one day.
E |
Written by Fledermaus (3238 comments posted) 28th January 2007 |
"Was I like this?"
Probably... All teens are like that, aren't they? I know I was. It somehow seems that allthough teenagers could have a pretty easy life (no job, no rent, no shopping, hardly any cleaning), they have all sorts of trouble and it often looks as if the entire world hates them. That frustration has to get out somewhere...
Teens are like a pack of wolves: They attack when someone shows signs of weekness. In highschool the teachers who kept order were those who bit back without showing any lack of self control. Those who got angry were lost... |
Written by Witzl (1585 comments posted) 28th January 2007 |
Thank you, everyone. Lots of good advice here, and the sympathy is much appreciated.
I do remember those high school teachers with admirable self control; they never got angry, always seemed so poised and sure of themselves. They couldn't be tripped up by some self-serving little adolescent. And here I am now, a grown-up who would like to be exactly like those savvy, tough teachers of mine -- and my kid wipes the floor with me almost every single day. Pathetic. |
Written by Talisker (1321 comments posted) 29th January 2007 |
Some of us have never grown up!
I think that the black and white merges into gray, to lesser or greater degrees as we experience life. Or at least it should.
I have two adolescent brothers in their mid thirties - still clinging to mum, still selfish, still closed minded...arrested development I think you call it.
Excellent, thought provocation.
Oli |
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