A boy sits in the corner
and talks.
He is bookless and
going without sleep.
His eyes are like
the red tide
with jelly fish floating.
He practices the electric guitar
nights
sure of stardom
avoiding
reading, writing, science and math.
“Job security comes with literacy!”
The teacher cries with broken voice
his words falling into an abyss.
One true beauty,
hating homework and books,
wants to go to college
and become a shrink
solving the world’s problems
along the way
while dreaming of a banker
buying the million dollar mansion with
a Rolls Royce and Mercedes Benz in the garage.
They will fly to the South of France once a year
where their villa faces the sea.
“Today,” the teacher says, “we study irony.
There is dramatic irony, situational irony
and verbal irony, which is where someone
says the opposite of what they mean.”
The rock star refuses to listen
not learning rhythm and rhyme.
Instead, he knows fame awaits—
why bother?
The dramatic irony is that the teacher
already knows the ending of his story
where at thirty
the future rock star
falls into the toilet of lost dreams.
Another adolescent dreamer
plans to earn an MFA
and write books
that change the world.
She hates reading and plays every angle
squeaking by
sure Harvard
will stand in line
begging for her
raw literary talent
with no need for revisions.
Her parents believe every word
she drops like dew
on blades of grass
glistening in the morning light.
Her mother says “My daughter is a rare genius,
a Hemingway;
the next Joyce Carol Oats.
Any teacher who gives her less than an A is incompetent.”
The teacher sees this as an example of situational irony.
He bites his tongue
knowing the truth
no one wants to hear.
That Alexander the Great,
Aristotle’s student,
was not stupid.
_________________________________
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Fine and true examples for sure of adolescent illusions and indifference, dreams of magic (encouraged by sillier well-meaning parents) before reality bites, and you convey strongly, too, the weariness and frustration teachers feel, that awful uphill battle to connect, persuade and convince. This is a poem from the depths of personal experience.
John
(((HUGS))) and love, Karla.
The closing stanza of this writing doesn't comply with the bankground of its prior stanzas. The general ideas in this composition, and the subjects dealt make it worth to receive a revision.
"MFA" stands for MASTER OF FINE ARTS, but the average college student in USA wouldn't/doesn't read it that way. (Doesn't read at all.)
My suggestion is that the author makes two poems of this; adds a substantial improvement on the closing stanza of this second part:
"That Alexander the Great,
Aristotle’s student,
was not stupid."
The closing stanza of the first part is pure diamond:
"The dramatic irony is that the teacher
already knows the ending of his story
where at thirty
the future rock star
falls into the toilet of lost dreams."
Most people like FALSE OVATION. Learning minds like true facts, for they make us learn and improve the quality of our works.
Thank You for sharing Your works.
In respect and gratitude,
Andre Emmanuel Bendavi ben-YEHU
that lives on, thankfully. Perhaps there was one special
student who took your lead? -gene.
Good write Lloyd!!!
Sandie Angel :o)