Sunday, March 21, 2010

Anger


So the Angry Poetry Bus is leaving tomorrow - people keep getting on the poetry bus earlier and earlier... (makes me so mad!) (not really) -see here for the rest of the poets

I thought a protest poem would be easy, but actually found it very difficult, and realised actually I very very rarely get angry. Few people have actually seen me angry - It's not that I don't think things are bad and things should change - just that I don't see the point in fuming over it... (and If I haven't done everything I can to improve a situation, I guess I don't feel I have a right to get angry about it), so real anger is a rare visitor to me, thankfully I guess (but then that just means I'm too lazy to have done everything I can to improve anything, so I guess that doesn't reflect too well on me!!). So here's the poem, hopefully saying something about anger...



21 comments:

Elisabeth said...

I can't do anger either, Niamh, though I feel it. I can't write it directly onto the page in poetry either, not as you have done here.

I have to write around anger, little hints perhaps, as such I have not been able to raise the fare to catch tomorrow's poetry bus, though at one stage I thought I might.

So far I have yet to see the insides of this bus. I only ever watch as others drive past.

Bill said...

LOL! I've just printed this out and stuck it up here! Good one. Hope you don't mind.

Lorenzo — Alchemist's Pillow said...

Hey, I take that personally! ;)

Nice poem on the self-destructive seed always borne by the winds of anger.

Protests need not be staged in anger. Today is the anniversary of the historic 1965 Selma to Montgomery march led by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., where people met the most hideous and hateful injustice with a "turn the other cheek" and "love your enemy" philosophy that still boggles the mind.

By the way, Niamh, I am greatly enjoying the Poetry Divas 1 I received by post the other day.

Niamh B said...

Hi Elisabeth, really hope you make it on the bus sometime soon, it's always interesting and fun, we never know where we'll end up!
Hi Bill - glad you like it!! and no problem, am honoured!
Hi Lorenzo - yes that last line is a bit of a risk, didn't mean you personally of course. And yeah - loving the enemy - tough one.
I'm glad you like the booklet - thanks for saying so :-)

Rachel Fox said...

Nice to see how the other half lives...
x

Titus said...

Oh, I know this. Loved the word-play.
from the Jerk.

Niamh B said...

Thanks Rachel - having given it some more thought, it's not actually that I'm a master of Zen peaceableness, just find it hard to write about Anger and maybe don't allow myself to feel it sometimes because it just hurts too much! Maybe it's just that I'm a coward really.

Titus you're not the Jerk! We're all the Jerk, glad you enjoyed it.

Pure Fiction said...

Nice one -
it weakens and needles
threads days with curses -
I love the way those lines play into each other. Very clever.

I had the same problem with the bus this week. Ended up struggling on and off with my inner chicken before finally wringing its neck (so to speak).
While this might not be exactly angry, I think you're definitely touching on something with that last line - ouch.

Kat Mortensen said...

Great! It starts out so serious with those words of wisdom and the choice of words is terrific - the slaking thirst the dry bones, etc. You did bring a genuine smile to my face though with the last line. Good one!

Niamh B said...

Thanks PF, your inner chicken is well and truly wrung alright! Yeah - last line was a risk, and I hope it doesn't offend anyone.

Poetikat, thanks a mill - glad you enjoyed it, again glad you didn't mind the last line!

Peter Goulding said...

I do anger but its not the anger I admire in others - its a lot more selfish. And that's the sort that eats you up

Totalfeckineejit said...

'Anger eats it's owner first'
So true ,but well expresed.

'Anger bleeds you dusty dry' Nice, nice,very nice, OOh I likes it.For someone who doesn't do angry you write very well about it.

Oh, and the mirror at the end (the second time so far this week, neat idea peeps)

Domestic Oub said...

Loved this poem Niamh! Esp the end :)

Niamh B said...

Thanks Peter, know what you mean.
Tks TFE - maybe it's just that I only very secretly do angry - or it could be that when I really really get angry it's terrifying - as one boston woman said to another coming out of an Andrew Lloyd Webber musical about trains with the people all on rollerscates "That's not entertainment"
Thanks Oub, I do try, glad you liked
:-)

Enchanted Oak said...

As they say where I'm from, a small town in California, harboring anger is like drinking poison and hoping the other person dies. I don't do anger poems either, much more keen on nature girl shit. But I enjoyed your self-examination and riding the bus today on my first trip around: TFE’s Poetry Bus

swiss said...

sucks your bones....

nice!

Batteson.Ind said...

fantastic! :-)
I'd be in your camp on the anger thing. I get annoyed at things.. but rarely REALLY angry.
I love the harshly witty punchline.
Marvellously talented as always!

Argent said...

I get miffed, piqued, needled, irritated but not hugely angry. It just is so pernicious and I have a kind of low-grade grumble of it most of the time. This poem is just the antidote I need jerk that I am!

Niamh B said...

Hi Enchanted Oak - thanks, I'll remember that, and thanks for the visit!
Thanks Swiss - you'd know the dog had some influence in this one wouldn't you?
Thanks Watercats, you're so kind! :-)
Thanks Argent - you're not a Jerk!! Glad you found the poem of use all the same.

Karen said...

I had a hard time with the anger thing, too, for the same reason. Sometimes I think I'm just too wishy-washy to get angry. Other times, I tell myself it's just that I see too many points of view and understand, so I have a hard time getting angry. I do know that I grew up in an angry environment, so I shy away from it. You make me smile, though, with that last line. Not real anger, but...

Niamh B said...

Thanks Karen, I think your "wishy washy" and "understanding all angles" reasons are also a big part of the thing for me - and I have a huge fear of anger too, though I don't think I lived in a very angry environment, but I find my own anger terrifying... God this is like Therapy or something!