(no subject)

[judecorp]

He always wanted to explain things.
But no one cared.
So he drew.
Sometimes he would draw and it wasn't anything.
He wanted to carve it in stone or write it in the sky.
He would lie out on the grass and look up in the sky.
And it would be only him and the sky and the things inside him that needed saying.
And it was after that he drew the picture.
It was a beautiful picture.
He kept it under his pillow and would let no one see it.
And he would look at it every night and think about it.
And when it was dark, and his eyes were closed, he could still see it.
And it was all of him.
And he loved it.
When he started school he brought it with him.
Not to show anyone, but just to have with him like a friend.
It was funny about school.
He sat in a square, brown desk.
Like all the other square, brown desks.
And he thought it should be red.
And his room was a square, brown room,
Like all the other rooms.
And it was tight and close.
And stiff.
He hated to hold the pencil and chalk,
With his arm stiff and his feet flat on the floor,
Stiff,
With the teacher watching and watching.
The teacher came and spoke to him.
She told him to wear a tie like all the other boys.
He said he didn't like them.
And she said that didn't matter!
After that they drew.
And he drew all yellow and it was the way he felt about morning.
And it was beautiful.
The teacher came and smiled at him.
"What's this?" she said. "Why don't you draw something like Ken's drawing?
Isn't that beautiful?"
After that his mother bought him a tie.
And he always drew airplanes and rocketships like everyone else.
And he threw the old picture away.
And when he lay alone looking at the sky,
It was big and blue and all of everything,
But he wasn't anymore.
He was square inside.
And brown.
And his hands were stiff.
And he was like everyone else.
And the things inside him that needed saying didn't need it anymore.
It had stopped pushing,
It was crushed.
Stiff.
Like everything else.
-Author Unknown

Comments

[auntiesiannan.livejournal.com]

:( school hurts your soul.

[binkiegirl.livejournal.com]

What an outstanding message to give to parents, and teachers. How many children have you seen full of fire and joy and have that crushed because they don't fit into the exact mold of their peer social groups. How much anger would be quelled? How much more beauty would be created? How much better would life be?

Food for thought. Thanks, smurfy.

[ennuiennui.livejournal.com]

That poem's still on my wall.

It's waiting for space in the Drawer of Sentimentality to open up.

[judecorp.livejournal.com]

I aim to please, Binkster.

[judecorp.livejournal.com]

If I have my way, you will need a second Drawer of Sentimentality. Soon. Besides, I like seeing it on your wall.

:)

[rizzo41.livejournal.com]

This is still my favorite poem ever. And not just because it won me trophies in high school.

[judecorp.livejournal.com]

I mostly posted it for you.