Friday 21 March 2008

One Hundred Ideas

I am still very much involved with my (shared) project with Kirsten and Mim. Here is my next contribution:

5.)Find a piece of poetry you respond to.Rewrite it and glue it into your journal. As I don't have a journal (yet), will do it here and now.
My son showed me this poem many years ago, and I find it very evocative, disturbing and yet brilliantly true (if you are a bit of a cynic like me!).


This Be The Verse
They fuck you up, your mum and dad.
They may not mean to, but they do.
They fill you with the faults they had
And add some extra, just for you.
But they were fucked up in their turn
By fools in old-style hats and coats,
Who half the time were soppy-stern
And half at one another's throats.
Man hands on misery to man.
It deepens like a coastal shelf.
Get out as early as you can,
And don't have any kids yourself. (Philip Larkin)

Here is my (softer) version of it:


This may be the verse
Their lust called love, your mum and dad
Will lead them to a child, it's true.
They bumble about, quite often mad
Making life more shit for you.

They, also abused and fed on gruel
By their own 'bumblers' first
Who all the time were harsh and cruel
Feeling that they too would burst.

If you don't like what parents do
Think really hard and think some more
Nothing changes in life's tasteless stew
You may not want this onerous chore!