Join Delores, MotherOwl, Mimi, Diane, and me as we reveal the heroes of our youth. You are welcome to leave your poem in the comments or post on your own blog; if you do the latter, please leave a note in the comments so we can find you. Use the topic, or choose another -- just have fun with the process and keep your brain humming along.
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I pondered the topic all week and just couldn't get inspired, I'm afraid. Despite having a caring family, good adults in my community, and good teachers at school, I didn't think of them as heroes and I didn't want to follow precisely in the footsteps of any of them.
Maybe I'm stubborn, or independent, or just using too narrow a definition of the word "hero".
Maybe they were all heroes.
But my brain continues to be as empty as . . . a bird's nest in December . . . a politician's address to the people . . . a squeezed sponge of water . . . (for more similes, click here)
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I'm Ready For My Ten Lashes With A Wet Noodle Now
When I tried to write about a childhood hero
All I came up with was a big fat zero
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Knowing I wasn't getting anywhere with the topic, I felt even more reluctant than usual when I thought about Monday approaching.
I'll let these memes drive the point home . . .
And that concludes this edition of Poetry Monday -- whew!
I don't remember having a childhood hero. And I don't know many caped crusaders now.
ReplyDeleteYou are excused the lashing.
And I do love the anti-Monday meme (which possibly makes me dayist).
Monday seems to be a hard day for many people, even when it's no longer tied to resuming work.
DeleteAfter reading all of the comments, I wonder if I just have a different definition of hero than most folks. Or a different perception of the idea. But I feel less badly about that, reading that you feel the same thing.
I was lucky in that I had an abundance of childhood heroes.
ReplyDeleteWhen I was a motorcycle racer (starting at about 11 years old) my heroes were Roger DeCoster and Brad Lackey.
Roger won the world championship five times and is pretty much considered the spokesman for the sport of motocross.
Brad was the first American to ever win the world championship back when motocross was mostly a European sport.
Roger is from Belgium.
Brad was a flamboyant kid from Berkeley when he started, so not only was he American and Californian, he was from Northern California, when the center of the motocross universe in the US was Los Angeles, so he was close to a hometown hero on the world stage to me.
There were other racers who were in the hero category, and even a couple that I got to know, but Roger and Brad were at the very top of the list.
When I took up the guitar at age 15, my heroes were Joe Walsh and Jimmy Page. All of the rest of my guitar heroes don't really qualify as childhood, as many of them remain heroes to me to this day, when I am 58 years old.
I agree with you about the teachers and mentors and such, who I have also been lucky to have, that they occupy a different role than heroes.
Maybe more important, but definitely different.
-Doug in Oakland
Interesting, Doug. I'm thinking that your kind of hero is more what I had in mind for a definition.
Delete"Ten lashes with a wet noodle"? There's a coincidence! I'm currently reading a book titled Against The Wind, and a line in there somewhere a few chapters ago, was " a rap on the knuckles with a wet noodle".
ReplyDeleteLove the cartoons, I often feel like Mondays come around far too soon. We could be Pollyanna's and say "well at least it will be a whole week until another comes" (*~*)
It's funny how something like a figure of speech (or a book or person) will come up shortly after we've read it or seen it elsewhere, isn't it?
DeleteI like your Pollyanna thought and will think of that from now on :)
My hero was a deaf woman who was housekeeper for my grandfather. She was awesome in so many ways.
ReplyDeleteSounds like you have a story or two to tell about your hero, Marie. Have you posted about her yet?
DeleteMondays are rough indeed...even in retirement. Camping huh???? I've been there lol.
ReplyDeleteWhy is it, I wonder, that Mondays are so universally dreaded, even by those in retirement? Must be its aura :)
DeleteWe should probably try to figure out a schedule for the prompts!
I am inspired by so many who make life better for others, and all it takes is a moment of kindness. We also have to look inside ourselves and see the hero in us. Sometimes, just getting up and facing the world should be considered a courageous act.
ReplyDeleteYes, and that is behind my statement that maybe all the folks I knew/know are heroes. You are so right that many people show a great amount of courage in everyday life.
DeleteLOL -- well that IS a fortuitous rhyme, hero and zero. Well done. :)
ReplyDeleteWhy do I not feel like it was well done?? I feel like a wimp! Or, worse, like an ungrateful person . . .
DeleteI can't think of any childhood heroes either, but I can think of a few villains.
ReplyDeleteOh wait - Charlies Angels! Okay I'm joking.
Villians is a whole 'nother topic, isn't it?
DeleteI didn't even have TV heroes! I'm starting to think I was a picky little person . . .
Well, you did write a poem...
ReplyDeleteCan one really call it that? lol
DeleteHeehee! I think you handled it perfectly! Camping? On it . . .
ReplyDeleteIt was a tough topic for me!
DeleteCamping is something I know you know about . . . :)
Ah well, you made us smile anyway.
ReplyDeleteAnd that makes me happy :)
DeleteYou expressed yourself quite well!
ReplyDeleteAt least I can't be accused of being wordy!
DeleteFor other readers, you can find Mimi's poem by clicking on her name above and following the link to her blog. She has written a lovely poem about her hero there.
Hello Jenny, I don't remember having any heroes when I was a child. Later though I had an admiration for Helen Keller, but thinking about it, it should have been Ann Sullivan, her teacher, I should have admired for her skills and patience etc. I wonder what would have happened to Helen if Ann hadn't come along. Together they made history!
ReplyDeleteHave a good week and take care.
That is a wonderful story, isn't it? I read that when I was growing up and the moment of Helen's breakthrough is something I've never forgotten.
DeleteI think so many of the people I knew and read about were very good folks but the fact that I STILL don't have what I consider a hero makes me think I'm defining it differently to many people.
A CHILDHOOD HERO
ReplyDeleteDad was wise and Dad was strong
In my eyes he could do no wrong
He didn't wear a magic cape
Or take on a different shape
No he wasn't a hero quite like that
With comic expressions like "Yikes!" and "Splat!"
For Dad was human like you and me
Being the best that he could be
He taught me the difference between right and wrong
And proved that the wise may also be strong.
Nicely said, YP - and you were lucky to have such a good dad.
DeleteI LOVE this!
Deletei think basically you agree that all important people in your life were hero and i am agreed to that either dear Jenny!
ReplyDeletewhen i was hardly 3 plus i guess we lived in city Hyderabad .i used to watch an English drama six million dollar man
though we moved from the city when i was four but i could not forget that couple and their supernatural abilities
i would try to act like them i still remember i tell my younger sister i can listen her from the other corner of house :)
later there came many people in my knowledge who inspired me and i wanted to be like them one of them was mother Teresa
your memes were just EXCELLENT :)))
they reminded me my phobia for such deadlines ,i can do bit good by my own way but dead lines vanish my brain completely
wishing you a lovely happy week ahead my precious friend !
Hah! Deadlines can go either way for me - either they make me work more effciently or they completely kill my brain, like they do to you :)
DeleteTelling your sister you could hear her from the other corner of your house is funny and sweet . . . did she believe you? I can remember wanting to have super vision or super hearing also.
I think I missed the mark on this week's topic because of the definition I was using for myself. If I had defined hero as "someone I admire" I would have had many to choose from! Mother Teresa is a fine example.
Enjoy the rest of your week, dear baili!
You nailed it. Nice job, jenny_o. I especially the last meme. Mondays are a terrible way to spend 1/7th of your life.
ReplyDeleteIt might not be quite so bad if a person could bring a dog to work, though . . .
DeleteHa! Your poem is perfect for a Monday. (And I LOL'd at the LOLZ.)
ReplyDeleteMondays - if you can't beat 'em, join 'em :)
Delete