Poetry

by Timothy   Jul 2, 2013


My teacher said it was the 'great Art';
sausage-fingered and gravy gargoyled,
squeezed in a stool of bald finish. I
boldly disagreed, denouncing Art and
poetry by saying it isn't Art that should
determine writing, though writing itself
that should determine its capacity for Art.

We quarreled, brawled, met on the field of
literary warfare and greyhound-beat the
gutless words out of each other's tongues.
He span and cracked a spine as I threw upon him
a paper sword of written notes and train-journey
love letters to Lucy's girlfriend who'd probably be
shifting boxes in a few minutes.

He hissed and crouched, pulling the ink out of
Wordsworth's Lucy and gushing over Browning's
Men and Women in reverse. I jogged to a nearby gorge
with Hughes on my back and Larkin in my mouth,
scattered with pencils and a pit of talking heads.
There had to be some conclusion, if not acceptance
of each other's stupidity and reckless havering.

'Balderdash', he wept, slipping into a greasy
cylinder with spectacles and a few dunce-like
whiskers. Art, it seemed, determined the amount of
flesh shed from an over educated chump, or the rump
cut of beef from a literary slaughter house.

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Latest Comments

  • 11 years ago

    by Jessica

    Really amazing poem 5/5 (:

  • 11 years ago

    by L

    Judging comments for Weekly Contest: July 8, 2013

    This poem is one of the type that leaves me wondering how the author's mind work. I have no idea, but this peculiar write caught my attention. I had to read it several times to catch a glimpse of the scene that Timothy's words paints for us. It's interesting to visualize the quarrel between the teacher and the student. There was a part that I found somehow "humorous" like "we quarreled, brawled, met on the field of literary warfare and greyhound-beat the gutless words out of each other's tongues," I have one word for that sentence - intense. The tone of the poem enhanced the image and this piece took me straight to that scene. Then for a moment, I felt shock "Balderdash," really? How could the student say that? I didn't see this write or rather the discussion between the teacher and the student as a nonsensical talk or perhaps after analyzing it for a bit, it might have been, I mean everyone shares different opinions about topics so its pointless to discuss their point of view with someone who apparently won't change his/her mind, or at least someone who doesn't seem to want to consider any one else's opinions. However, even after I was shocked I liked that the student realized it was nonsensical to continue the discussion and that it was time to reach a conclusion. I also enjoyed the narration and that this poem has the opinion from the student and the teacher and how this argument came to life. That's was neat.

  • 11 years ago

    by Meena Krish

    Honestly I've been reading this from the time you
    posted it but found it hard to comment. I really liked the visuals I got from this though especially this:

    We quarreled, brawled, met on the field of
    literary warfare and greyhound-beat the
    gutless words out of each other's tongues.

    Excellent write and Congrats on the write!

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