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JerryPat2
Member Laureate

since 2011-02-06

Posts 16975
South Louisiana

0 posted 2011-06-08 07:38 AM

I was the class cut-up.
Once a teacher kept me after class
for a whipping.
She was playing everything
against the middle.
The rest of the class knew
why I was being kept after class.
A paddling.
Teacher thought I would be shamed.
Take me down a peg or two.
I knew better.
They did too.
When I bent over the desk for the paddle
I saw a bird on the outside of the window sill.
The loud SMACK of the paddle
on my butt
chased the bird away.
As she continued with her duty
I followed that bird
until it was out of sight.
Right then and there
I knew
I was going to follow that bird
someday.

~ Even if you are on the right track, you'll get run over if you just sit there.--Will Rogers ~

Margherita
Member Seraphic

since 2003-02-08

Posts 22236
Eternity

1 posted 2011-06-08 08:07 AM

You rendered this moment in time with mastery, dear Jerry. Oh, those methods! What did they do, other than increase rebellion? You owe your spirit of freedom to that little bird who couldn't stand what happened and flew away ...
This scene will linger within me for quite some time.

Love,
Margherita

JerryPat2
Member Laureate

since 2011-02-06

Posts 16975
South Louisiana

2 posted 2011-06-08 08:43 AM

I agree that the brutality used "back then" wasn't cohesive to making someone "understand," like you said, it merely fulled my already rebellious spirit.

I do, however, think that they have gone overboard with dealing with children. It seems as if the animals are running the zoo, a metaphor for our school system these days.

~ Even if you are on the right track, you'll get run over if you just sit there.--Will Rogers ~

[This message has been edited by JerryPat2 (06-08-2011 11:18 PM).]

Margherita
Member Seraphic

since 2003-02-08

Posts 22236
Eternity

3 posted 2011-06-08 08:49 AM

Yes, from one extreme to the other, you are right.

Sunshine

Administrator

Member Empyrean

since 1999-06-25

Posts 63354
Listening to every heart

4 posted 2011-06-08 10:26 PM

We're of a certain age, our memories align;
The teachers were dressed, as we, to the nines
no skimpy outfits, nothing to absolve a youth
from education and its all, and of its "truths"...

I saw the tear of philosophy
a rising form of democracy
and still I knew there was a middle
finding that, oh sir, the riddle!

Your poem has touched a nerve of sorts
and maybe why some chose to abort.

~*~

See? You made me not only remember, but think, and that is what a poet is supposed to do...

JerryPat2
Member Laureate

since 2011-02-06

Posts 16975
South Louisiana

5 posted 2011-06-08 10:42 PM

"and still I knew there was a middle
finding that, oh sir, the riddle!"

Absolutely. Thank you Sunshine.

~ Even if you are on the right track, you'll get run over if you just sit there.--Will Rogers ~

Lori Grosser Rhoden
Member Patricius

since 2009-10-10

Posts 10202
Fair to middlin' of nowhere

6 posted 2011-06-09 11:29 AM

Jerry, you are just the type of student I get to work with in my job. We lead the horses to water and try to find their reason to drink, so to speak. Home support makes a world of difference in most cases. And the hardest ones to reach are often the smartest. Back in the day getting swats (for the guys) was pratically a rite of passage...for the "bad boys" any way.

Lori

JerryPat2
Member Laureate

since 2011-02-06

Posts 16975
South Louisiana

7 posted 2011-06-09 12:05 PM

Hi Lori. Yep, the home life contributes mightily to a child's mental attitude of course. In my case tt wasn't that hot. Oh, I was fed and clothed, but there was a deep, dark secret surrounding me, that when I found out about it things got really bad around the house. I'm still, to this day, enraged and everybody but me is dead. doesn't matter. Wrong is wrong.

~ Even if you are on the right track, you'll get run over if you just sit there.--Will Rogers ~

faithmairee
Senior Member

since 2011-01-05

Posts 1441
Poe Haven, USA

8 posted 2011-06-09 11:00 PM

Dear JerryPat-Oh, I love your new signature, What a riot. As for your poem, well as usual you have done an excellent job. You are a wonderful poet

Love,

Faith

There must be a poem in here somewhere.

JerryPat2
Member Laureate

since 2011-02-06

Posts 16975
South Louisiana

9 posted 2011-06-09 11:09 PM

Thank you Faith, your very kind words. I have just finished my one glass of wine so it is time to hit the sack, Your comment will make me sleep tonight, thanks and goodnight.

~ Even if you are on the right track, you'll get run over if you just sit there.--Will Rogers ~

Duck1946
Member

since 2011-05-16

Posts 84
Nebraska

10 posted 2011-06-15 12:24 PM

Jerry, you must be about as old as I am.
I got the paddle as well.
Sorry your home life wasn't so great.
Much creativity comes from pain.
Loved the poem.

JerryPat2
Member Laureate

since 2011-02-06

Posts 16975
South Louisiana

11 posted 2011-06-15 02:31 PM

I'm seventy-two, Duck. I never let any of the other birthdays bother me, but when I hit seventy I said, Damn, I'm old enough to die. Still kicking though.

Thank you much for reading and commenting on the "Short Bio," I greatly appreciate it.

~ Those are my principles, and if you don't like them ... well, I have others. ~

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