Been there and experienced: Been there and experienced that, and you describe it very, very well. I also want to applaud your metaphors and similes: they are so strikingly original, yet so easily comprehend, that I was struck by how precisely accurate they were in describing how the experience feels. I actually paused over several of the lines because they are so well constructed and so powerful. I think this poem is, and will continue to be, one of the main centerpieces of your entire collection.
I'm still waiting to find: I'm still waiting to find out, but I think it turned out well. The last time I turned in a paper, for a different instructor, I lost points on stupid things. I'm hoping this instructor has more fair grading practices.
This guy had many prior: This guy had many prior arrests for public intoxication, one DUI conviction, and has just been arrested again after being observed walking home from a bar. He's on probation already. The reality is he'd be picked up on a PO hold and released again as soon as possible, usually the next day or Monday. Fortunately, with my paper to be written as though I am his social worker, I was able to come up with some options for rehabilitation that would benefit him and help get him on the right track.
That is a very gracious: That is a very gracious reply, and I deeply appreciate the courtesy of your response.
At the beginning of my senior year in high school, more decades ago than I care to admit, a racial remark. made casually in the lunchroom, ignited a full out riot which required police intervention in our small rural village. Once that had been quelled, a good many of us students became pro-active and realized that honest freedom of speech could sometimes result in hurt feelings; or, even worse, in the eruption of violence, either individually or by groups. I had been bullied for the two years prior for being deemed as "different," so I knew what it was like to be on the receiving end of the unrestrained exercize of "free speech." I leanred quickly that not every thought articulated by the brain deserves to be pronounced by the mouth, or published by the pen (or the laptop, or whatever). We students placed the peacefulness of our high school campus above the need to enjoy our first amendment rights.
That is why I made my original comment. While I respect your right to post whatever poems you wish, I also think that PostPoems is a community and not just a posting site, and for the sake of the community, not everything that wants to be said needs to be said.
And if this comment is too long, too verbose, or causes you offense in any way, please feel free to delete it. I consider the ability to comment as a privilege, not a right, and you have the final decision as to what comments remain attached to your poems.
Thank you very much…: Thank you very much for your comment. The thought this poem can be interpreted as being racist has definitely crossed my mind and I gave much thought to not posting it at all. Although it was not my intention, I can understand your criticism. Why did I publish it, then? The honest answer is I don't know. I thought it was somewhat humorous, I guess. Your thoughtful comment has made me re-think the whole thing. I'm not going to delete it, but am in the process of heavily editing it, hopefully to our mutual satisfaction. Thanks again for your feedback, it's greatly appreciated.
With the utmost respect, I: With the utmost respect, I think this poem could be interpreted as overtly racist. I have read many of your poems, although I do not comment, and I usually comprehend your sense of humor; but this poem crosses lines that just don't need to be crossed on a site like PostPoems. This is not criticism of you, personally; I have neither that right nor privilege.
I had the most amazing thing: I had the most amazing thing happen today, and I feel like sharing it with you.
I finished a paper I'd been struggling to write for school for the past few weeks. The stress of it had me contemplating giving up on my dreams again. I'd dropped out of college in 2006, 3 courses shy of a diploma in a program that wasn't in line with those dreams but would have still been useful. I'd only been in that program because I'd lost the scholarship I was using for my dreams, but I still qualified for programs at a different school.
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