Saturday, May 26, 2012

Bully


POETRY JAM
http://poetryjaam.blogspot.com.au/
asks us to consider the unpleasant subject of Bullying


BULLY

Imagine the plight of the victim, if the victim is a child!
Compared with this all adult pain seems to be very mild.
There will always be rogues and ruffians, with taunting on the brain,
With nothing else in their vapid minds than the need to cause others pain.
But an adult has recourse to law, and an adult knows his rights,
He also has the experience to avoid unpleasant fights.
But picture a child, maybe small and quiet, maybe newly come to the school,
Who's never even heard of bullying and is treated as a fool.
Who's taunted, teased and terrified, in secret shadowy places,
While other weak creatures stand and watch, with sick grins on their faces.
The teachers say 'No bullying!'; the teachers say 'Report it!'
The teachers say ' Just let me know and I will come and sort it.'
But what if the Bully says 'You  tell and you'll get even worse!'
The poor little victim's sure to feel that he is under a curse.
Imagine waking-up each day to a life of taunt and threat.
Imagine dawdling ones way to school thinking 'How much worse can it get!'
And if your Mother notices that something's on your mind,
And says 'I'm telling those teachers! They must be completely blind!'
Imagine yourself crying 'No Mum! He'll get me if you do!
And I'm not telling you his name! That would be dangerous too!'
How will they grow up, these two boys? The Bully may get by
By bludgeoning his way though life, making other people cry;
Unless he recalls his bullying, when he is fully grown,
And suffers regret for evermore, secretly, on his own.
But the victim may be scarred for life, ashamed of being weak,
Never daring to make a stand, being docile, being meek.
*
And what of the female Bully? She's deadlier than the male,
Because her tongue's her weapon, and tongues can whip and flail.
Nasty jibes and little notes, playing 'no speaks' and sneering,
This are the things that little girls spend their school-days fearing.
The Bullied need their champions, champions that they crave;
That can stand-up to the Bullies!
Come on, kids, be brave!
*
----------------------------------------------------------------------

This is my daughter, Rebecca, who doesn't resemble me in the least. But watch out, Becca!

TRANSFORMATION

‘All women become like their mothers’. So said Oscar Wilde,
And I have absolute proof of this; I am my mother’s child.
In my youth I never resembled her; we didn’t look the same;
This was a matter of regret to me; I thought it was a shame.
She had great big brown eyes; mine were rather small.
I was short and dumpy; she was slim and tall.
She had dark hair, wavy too; mine was ‘mouse’ and straight;
And I wore glasses too, I fear, something I used to hate.
‘I wish I looked like my mother’ was often on my mind;
I felt that Fate had seen me coming and had been a bit unkind.
Yet, now that I am elderly, and my mother no longer here,
Vestiges of my mother suddenly appear.
Oh, not the looks, but mannerisms, a turning of the head,
A pursed-lip type of reaction to something that’s been said.
I look in the mirror daily and see a familiar sight…
‘All women become like their mothers’; Oscar Wilde was right.
*

10 comments:

Mary said...

You definitely have captured the fears of children who are bullied, that if they tell they will get it even worse. I remember when some bullies (boys) used to shout slurs out of the window to the bus after my daughters got off. They told me. I even heard it. I said I was going to phone the principal. They said, "Don't, Mom," as that is what they feared. I phoned anyway, and thankfully it stopped....and the bullies did not find another way to bully them. But one really never does know to what lengths bullies will go.

Brian Miller said...

i like the encouragement in your words...and it is hard to know what to do in the face of a bully...sometimes thinking it will just make it worse...we do need our champions though that will stand up and put them down...

Mary B. Mansfield said...

The intimidation tactics bullies use seem so potent, so real, to young kids, and you absolutely captured that fear well.

And Oscar Wilde was absolutely right, I find I'm becoming more like my mother every day...much to my complete chagrin.

Two wonderfully vivid poems.

Helen said...

The vicious cycle of abuse, fear, keeping quiet, more abuse is insidious in our society and needs to be stopped!!!

... as a side note, I definitely became my mother as I grew older - which is a good thing!

Fun60 said...

Daughters do go on to resemble their mothers. How true. Looking at photos of myself I can now begin to see my Mother's mouth and chin etc etc.

Maude Lynn said...

You are so right about female bullies! They are much worse than the boys.

Christine said...

When I was a recess monitor I would always tell the kids to report things, if they felt scared. A few years later my own children confessed to me that kids don't tell, because they know adults really can't change anything, so it's better not to tattle at all. Boy I was naive to think no one tattled because we had the best school, and I was such a good monitor.

Margaret Gosden said...

I thought that children had rights, that someone had implemented a bill of rights....well, if not yet, here's a project for some kid looking for a raison d'ĂȘtre in law!

Sherry Blue Sky said...

Two great poems - I love the one about mothers and daughters best!

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