Strap on the armour, Xena (28th February, 2009, 00.06am)
For Doeslittle
Arm yourself with gilded words
against imposters and pretenders,
just make sure of your punctuation,
your grammar and your spelling;
the teacher’s on the prowl, dear,
the time to write is now, for fear
we’re losing all our cherry talent;
the casualties are mounting up
and the stories just ain’t coming;
slash sarcasm with lemon-wit
and stir some sugar in the malice;
post a piece of prose, my sweet,
chuck in comments for a peer,
have your say while it’s hot, see -
don’t put your feet up, rise and cheer;
we’ll rib you and we’ll tease you
but we’ll never grind you down
and those of them that do, dear
don’t deserve your hallowed ground;
jealousy’s an ugly word, it’s green
and under-ripe, we’ll bandy it around
and see who takes a swipe tonight;
don’t let them bite your cherries, babe,
raise your sword of poetic sheen,
for you have the Pow-er, yes, you have
the balls to rip apart their spleen;
for this is not a boys’ club, old girl,
no, this is not a clique; so throw
another poem into the ring, love
and let them offer their critique;
it’s time to strap on the armour, Xena,
and ride into battle against the mean.
Jennifer Pickup
Comments
Doeslittle | February 28, 2009 - 00:01
Wow. It's an amazing poem. I'm very honoured. What never ceases to amaze me though is how you manage to thread words together at such a pace when I spend ages chiselling them out. And so perfectly written too, damn you. Thank you for being so kind.
jennifer | February 28, 2009 - 00:16
Oh dear, I don't know how I do it either! Maybe I'm simply highly attuned to the collective unconscious... it's a mystery - they just come, pounding through my head and my poor fingers attempt to type them down... now, if only I found prose so easy, that I struggle with...!
Thank you for your awesome appreciation - I am, as ever, your loyal supporter, for your word-chiseling makes my word-spewing seem so crass...
J x
Ewan | February 28, 2009 - 11:16
'at such a pace when I spend ages chiselling them out.'
'for your word-chiseling makes my word-spewing seem so crass...'
Since you both regularly produce a great variety of good work - from the thought-provoking to the playfully witty - it shows that there are many ways to write,no?
threeleafshamrock | March 1, 2009 - 11:50
Nice one Jen! Do what teacher says DL and start chiselling! Not sure what exactly went on with regard to why you 'pulled' all your work (dl) but rise up 'Phoenix' and have at 'em; sharpen your pen and thrust it out there! Good write Jen and good support - it's nice when people care.
Chris X
jennifer | March 2, 2009 - 15:17
Yes, Ewan, more than one way to skin a cat and all that, not that I've tested it out!
Thanks tls, we are a community, it's a shame when people let the side down!
J x