It's Poetry Monday and the suggested theme is "Modern Life."
Join Diane, Delores, and me (and usually a few more people in the comments) as we tackle this very large and wide-ranging topic. You are welcome to leave a poem in the comment section of our blogs, or on your own blog. If you do that, please leave a note in the comments so we'll know where to find you.
*****
Spoiler Alert: They Don't Call Her Grumpy Anymore
The old and grumpy woman frowned a glum and grumpy frown.
She was watching all the young folks with their heads bent down.
They were flicking with their thumbs and they were tapping out their texts,
And the old and grumpy woman said, "The modern world's a mess!"
She said, "When I was young, people talked to one another,
"But nowadays, the youngsters, well, they barely even bother!
"And the hairstyles that they wear -- well, you hardly dare to look;
"The colours and the kooky styles, why, I could fill a book!
"And all those tattoos that they have, what's wrong with basic skin?
"And all those piercings that they get, with all that hardware in!"
The old and grumpy woman was so busy talking trash,
She didn't see the obstacle that caused her mighty crash;
She did, however, feel the pain, and tears sprang to her eyes;
Her leg, she thought, was broken for she couldn't even rise.
But suddenly, beside her knelt a boy with greenish hair.
He spoke so gently to her, made her feel he truly cared.
A girl with many piercings in her ears and nose and brow
Stopped to help, and made the woman feel more calm somehow.
Another lad took off his coat and covered her, to warm;
And as he did, the woman saw the ink upon his arm.
In weeks to come, the woman had a lot to think about.
Her preconceptions had been wrong, and so . . . she tossed them out.
These days, the woman's thankful for the fall that brought the light . . .
And thankful for the kids who proved the modern world's all right.
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Can you believe it? Those young people are just FINE! |
*****
It's a short post today due to not enough days in last week; someone needs to fix that before the next holiday, okay? Okay!
Have a good week, folks :)
I love this poem, it shows both sides of the modern world to us and to the old woman. Well done :)
ReplyDeleteThank you!
DeleteDrat you. My sentimental self has sweaty eyes today. And I do firmly believe that those young people ARE indeed just fine.
ReplyDeleteThey really are.
DeleteI love it!
ReplyDeleteYay!
DeleteNice poem Jenny, rather you me.
ReplyDeleteMy mind goes blank when I think about poems.
I’ve always been the same.
How about songs? Do you have the same reaction? Songs and poems are siblings!
DeleteThere is a lot of poetry I'm not fond of, too, Terry - I get what you mean. Thanks for continuing to read anyhow :)
Lol. Great poem.
ReplyDeleteThe texting bothers me more than anything but as I don’t have to do it, I can live with it.
Thanks, Marie. I'm sure we did things to bug our parents' generation, too!
DeleteHello Jenny, I do so agree, you can't generalise or mustn't, as people are all different even though they may look the same. I learnt a long time ago to take as I find and that includes the young folk.
ReplyDeleteMy poem was written with a certain person in mind, but to be fair to him this is how our modern society is now. You have to give your employers 110% these days just to keep your job and to get promotion you must have to jump through hoops. Glad I don't work anymore!
Technology.
Letter writing is an art form,
Of grammar, content and flow.
With technology, communication changes,
As the post is considered too slow.
Everything has to be instant,
No time to reflect or give thought.
Things have to be done right now,
Which keeps the mind quite fraught.
No time to spend with family,
To have fun and pleasure galore.
Priority is the workplace,
As they demand so much more.
Simple living is in the past,
Never to surface again.
Retreating into the ether,
On an ever speeding train.
Technology is the villain,
It's domination nearly complete.
It controls all social media,
No reason for us to meet.
We don't need conversation,
E-mails and texts are just fine.
No necessary meeting,
No time! No time! No time!
For many life's a socket,
With plugs, wires and such
But, do they enjoy their lives?
I don't think so, quite as much.
Not like the simpler folk,
Who enjoy each and every day,
With their many and varied interests,
Keeping technology far away.
This is my own personal view as I have seen the out-come of someone who has to 'jump through hoops' to keep his employers happy.
Take care and have a good week.
Joan (Devon)
They will remember the sunsets,
The celebrations and their lives.
And they will be fondly remembered,
By their loved ones including their wives.
I couldn't agree more, both with "taking as I find" and jumping through hoops for an employer. I read something recently about possible legislation to force employers to address the problem of people being "on call" every minute of every day. So the issue has become enough of a problem that it is getting serious attention. Hopefully over time a balance will be found.
DeleteI love your line "No time! No time! No time!" - it sums up the situation for so many.
I don't know what happened to the last verse, probably my haste at commenting.
DeleteI'm glad I was never career-minded as there is so much pressure on people now.
Joan (Devon)
What irony! With the conveniences that are supposed to give us more free time, we have less! A conundrum for sure!
DeleteLoved your poem, Joan!
Oh, I love this one! Such a good lesson in it, too. My youngest is only 20, so I have been around those young'uns quite recently. They may do things differently but that doesn't mean it's bad. They are wonderful young people and I really like the modern world. And let's not forget that every aging generation complains about the upcoming ones. When I was young, my parent's generation complained about us. It's a repetitive cycle.
ReplyDeleteYes, exactly! It's not that long ago that WE were the younger generation and getting funny looks from older folks! ha ha
DeleteIt's too bad that it takes a crash for some people to see reality around them.
ReplyDeleteSo true!
DeleteLovely......we all need to take those poetic words to heart.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Delores :)
DeleteOh, this is just lovely! A real lesson in to what can happen when our eyes are opened!
ReplyDeleteSome of us need a lesson now and then :)
DeleteBEAM ME UP SCOTTY!
ReplyDeleteStarship troopers everywhere
Transfixed by little screens
Sending secret messages
We wonder what this means.
They seek a different life
From the one that they are living?
That’s too actual, too urgent
And after all so unforgiving
But the little screens that glow
Take you places you don’t know
On a magic carpet ride
Where it’s easier to hide.
True. Those little screens are magical.
DeleteI like the poem a lot. Trying to be a good and decent human being while being prejudged based upon my appearance is familiar to me, but I imagine more of a problem for folks who aren't white and male like I am.
ReplyDeleteThe texting part reminded me of an XKCD comic he called "Writing Skills" in which he talks about "Another study found that kids who use SMS abbreviations actually score higher on grammar and spelling tests" which was answered "Imagine kids start playing catch literally ALL THE TIME. Everywhere they go, they throw balls back and forth, toss them in the air, and hurl them at trees and signs- nearly every waking hour of their lives.
Do you think their generation will suck at baseball because they learned sloppy skills?"
https://xkcd.com/1414/
I thought he made a good point. Writing will stay around as long as we keep using it, and texting does count as writing.
As for the in person social isolation, that might be somewhat of a problem, but on the other hand, waiting for long periods is way easier if you have something to do, and there isn't always anyone around to talk to.
-Doug in Oakland
Great points! When I'm waiting I wish I had a smartphone because then I'd ALWAYS have reading material :)
DeleteA nice view of both sides of the coin...
ReplyDeleteThanks, e :)
DeleteThis poem is so true. I remember when I was raising my children and one of my daughters was very edgy. She was always interested in boys that, well, would never be described as the AllAmerican type. They mostly had strange hair and clothes and maybe a piercing or two. However, they were all interesting, well spoken kids who loved the arts and were always polite. I learned that the old saying, “Don’t judge a book by it’s cover” is often correct.
ReplyDeleteYes! Exactly!
DeleteNice! I think every generation goes through this. I remember specifically,"How can you listen to that crap?" Now it's on all the oldie stations. I hope I live long enough to see what the generation coming next wants to do.
ReplyDeleteYep, I agree - a generational thing. You'd think as a species we would retain some memory of that, but nooooo ...
DeleteIt’s a great poem which is something I could never do.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Terry - much appreciated.
DeleteA wonderful poetic statement, Jenny --universal and personal in showing I change my minds often as other women
ReplyDeleteThanks, Geo. - I've had to change my mind, too; probably most of us have.
DeleteLOVE this poem! This one's going to keep me smiling for a while. Thanks for that! :-)
ReplyDeleteAlways glad to make people smile! Thanks for the kind words :)
Deletei think every old generation faces such problems which you displayed beautifully in this poetic and rhythmic way !
ReplyDeletethough i not as old but believe me that new generation's fashion and style seem really HARD to look at as you said so
I think you are right about every generation feeling the same things - it seems to be part of life! I also confess that my immediate reaction to some ways of dressing, styles and so on is the same as the reaction of the "old and grumpy woman" but when I have gotten to know the young people they have been just . . . people! So I didn't have far to go for inspiration here :)
DeleteLove your poem, Jenny. It could also fall under your "Ignorance" topic although the lady is a lot less so now.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Chicken. I'm wishing I had saved it for this week because I'm having real trouble coming up with a poem :)
Delete