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Sunday 2 September 2012

My Two Stands for Human Freedom


Rebellion 1 

It's an honour!
You can't refuse...

It's a matter of honour,
so I do refuse.

How did we get to this:
antlers locked
with the establishment;
my almost outlaw status;
my stand for human rights?

Unprecedented
in the annals of the school
that one should spurn
a prefect's badge!
The badge was not the problem.

Surely somewhere
someone's charter says
all human beings have the right
to spurn a cap
with yellow tassels.



Rebellion 2

Rebellion two
came three terms later:
my request
for transfer out -
to art school if you please.

Nasty place. Unacademic.
Uniforms there, blue and green;
corduroy and velveteen -
and pork pie hats
are all the rage!

My heels dug in more deeply now.
The new art master took the blame.
Too damned good at his art game.
Bohemian, the pair of us.
I left uncherished and unblessed.
..................................

Stu McPherso (Poems of Hate and Hope) at dVerse ~ Poets' Pub has set "Rebellion" as this weeks topic.

25 comments:

Elephant's Child said...

Both seem to me to be damn fine rebellions.

Elisabeth said...

This says it all, the cruelty of school life and the need to rebel. Good for your narrator. Thanks, Dave.


















Claudia said...

uniformity makes me rebel as well...you wouldn't expect this in an art school...

Amrit Sinha said...

Good pair of poems !!!

Unknown said...

Nice take and stand Twice now who likes uniforms

Tabor said...

So, you were a rebel. I knew you spoke your mind. Glad you won your battles.

kaykuala said...

To rebel for a cause,big or small doesn't matter. We make our voice heard so that others are aware. True to principle Dave!

Hank

Anonymous said...

Some really interesting thoughts in this David...there are prefects everywhere...even in art school- and this is something I think about quite a lot....who are 'they'...who are the ones who decide what you can do, what is good art...what is 'up to standard'... because in my mind there is only one person...and that is you! Very well written pieces...made me feel quite strongly actually! thank you or sharing!

Daydreamertoo said...

Sometimes its so freeing to rebel. You little rebel you! :)
Nice read Dave. I couldn't stand the uniforms either.

Jenny Woolf said...

The opposite of how they are these days, in schools, I suspect. Still, I suyppose at least they cared - some schools don't even care. Would that have been better, I wonder?

Brian Miller said...

ugh....uniforms at an art school...that seems like an oxymoron and stifling to creativity...

Carl said...

Both strong poems. I like them both. Now to dig into a weeks worth of your posts from while I was at the seashore....

Mary said...

You know, sometimes you just have to do what you have to do....and consequences be damned! YOU do strike me as the kind of person who wouldn't be a slave to conformity.

Anonymous said...

Oh dear. Yes - art school can raise problems for parents! And perhaps teachers!

Wonderful details here. k.

Laurie Kolp said...

Rebellion does bring to mind school doesn't it? Here the public junior high kids have to wear uniforms and they don't like it at all.

Ygraine said...

Bravo!
Sometimes there is no option but to rebel, and you were a true inspiration here, Dave!
Love it :)

Anonymous said...

Uniforms...ugh!

Lovely poem!

Dave King said...

The Elephant's Child
I thought so at the time. Thanks.

Elisabeth
Thanks for saying this.

Claudia
No, there was no uniform at the art school. It was just the head saying that rebels are conformists in their own way. Sorry, I didn't make that clear.

Green Speck
Thanks. Much appreciated.

Bruce
i'm still basically averse to unifirms - but more mellow in my dislike.

Tabor
Thanks. We rebels have to!

Hank
This is very true - in many cases. Some are more important.

Poems of hate and hope
Thanks for this. I fully agree, though it reminds of an arguament that used to rage at art school: who is the best judge of whether a work of art is successful? Some would say the artist, because only he knew whether the original vision had been cnveyed or not. Others said he was the least reliable of judges.

Daydreamertoo
Yes, it does free - the spirit, at least. Thanks.

Jenny
Yes, schools then and now have little in common. On the surface, at least. Though most still insist on uniforms, but more acceptable statements of school identity - not caps and certainly not with yellow tassels!

Brian
My poor drafting, I'm afraid. Please see reply to Claudia.

Carl
Good to have you back. Hope the venture was as successful in all respects as it seemed to me.

Mary
Not willingly, I wouldn't, no! Thanks for saying this.

manicddaily
True!

Laurie
Few kids do, but few schools ask the kids.

Ygraine
Thanks so much. Appreciate the support.

daydreamerdreams
Surprising - and good - to realise there is so much negativity towards uniforms - even among the cognoscenti!

Lydia said...

I think you and I would have been sympatico schoolmates back in the day!

Love the way you broke this into two separate yet related rebellions.

Dave King said...

Lydia
I could have done with a mate back then. I think I'd got myself a bit of a reputation as a rebel, which was why I brought in the two rebellions. Thanks for the comment.

A Cuban In London said...

Marvellous. It brought back memories of my time in both secondary school and college. My rebellion was to start thinking independently.

Greetings from London.

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