Lessons of 1967 (poem) by Patrick A Granfors on AuthorsDen

Lessons of 1967
by Patrick A Granfors → (All Poetry by Patrick A Granfors)
Rated "G" by the Author.

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I was a real geek in the 9^th grade Thinking back I think everybody was a geek in the 9^th grade To some degree at least OK, geeks and bullies and the cool people I had Mrs. MaCluskey’s English class Total chaos Two years of prior English classes taught me Sentence diagramming, grammar, and vocabulary Not this class Endless hours rough and tumble nothingness Except when I got into it with one of the idiots Self defense I swear Didn’t matter, the sentence, write 1,000 times, “I, Patrick Granfors will not misbehave in Mrs. MaCluskey’s English Class” One thousand times Like an idiot myself I complied the following weekend. Sadly there was no lesson that task could teach Compliance for compliance sake I suppose I wasn’t a big reader of the classics I had a book report due on a Monday so I checked out a library book On a Friday “The Agony and the Ecstasy “ The weekend was mostly agony as I recall Of course I didn’t finish although I made a remarkable effort No recollection of the book report Just a lesson on procrastination Not learned really For me lessons and habits have a tendency to disconnect Lessons that I learn and then deliberately ignore Is that arrogance, stupidity, or something else? Personality I suppose “Don’t sweat the small stuff,” comes to mind, “and it’s all small stuff” Unfortunately that leaves me with a lot of sweat left over It manifests in my socks and armpits Now there’s a lesson Copyright 2010 Patrick Granfors

Reviewed by Annabel Sheila

Reviewed on September 20, 2010

Giggle.....an honest look into your youth, Patrick! I begin to see where the poet of today first began to manifest himself! Loved the last few lines.....

Anna

Reviewed by Sage Sweetwater

Reviewed on September 18, 2010

Spitwads! You gotta love it, Patrick...lessons that are still with us 43 years later...what Beatles hit came out in '67?...

Reviewed by Richard King

Reviewed on September 17, 2010

You're an infant!!!! I should have known..... You probably like Rap music. Hang in there Eileen, he'll eventually mature. Nice write, Dick

Reviewed by Karen Vanderlaan

you know what/ I like this, very much! i hate the act of making kids write lines and ...some of it isn't small stuff!

Reviewed by Ed Matlack

I'm gonna stay away from stinky old you on hot days, for sure...e

Reviewed by Mark Lichterman

Love it when a writer wears his, so to speak, heart on his sleeve for others to see. Great words, as always, my friend. You were in the 9th grade in 1967? Let's see? In 1967 I was going to be a daddy for the fourth time... Wow! How time does fly!
Your friend, Mark

Reviewed by Eileen Granfors

I really hope teachers will quit using WRITING AS PUNISHMENT because writing should be joy.

The secret's out. . . in '67, I was graduating from high school and all I could think about was UCLA. . .and books. That was my year for Michener.

Reviewed by Christine Tsen

I'm impressed by how hard you tried. Many kids that age don't even bother. So, you did good!
And one of your poetic signatures, which I enjoy...there's always something in there for the nose. Thank you for that.
Blessings,
Christine

Reviewed by Peter Schlosser (Reader)

1967--Probably a few other things going on round that time too. Like, who had time for book reports, right?? I would say you were probably a lot smarter than you give yourself credit for. It's all about priorities man, proper allocation of time.

Reviewed by Regis Auffray

Personal and honest sharing, Patrick; also, your verses made me realize that I too was in grade seven that year. Love and peace,

Regis

Reviewed by Artūrs Lūsis (Reader)

something of bukowski, something of cummings, quite a lot of you, the author - lovely poem; love it when they speak to me like this, humoring in dialogue with itself. questions asked are answered; technique is free, completely aware of its work, flowing nicely. to simplify a bit - a cool read that dried my sweat!

thank you!