Eavesdropping #2
pick that up
no it don’t
go there
where’s your coat
did you leave it
at school
put that down
I told you no
knives boy
stop that noise
why can’t you be
normal
sit back down
why are you so
stupid
get my beer
don’t forget to
bring chips
stop that now
don’t be mean to
Sissy
shut your mouth
don’t you argue
with me
time for bed
I don’t care it’s
still light
no you can’t
you had free lunch
at school
don’t you cry
because I said
so child
and I the boss
of you
don’t you ever
forget
I’m the boss
of you
Ziji Salaam 9/2/09
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
I'm enjoying your series; I hear the same conversations every day. I work with these kids, too. I'm an aide, trying to help them 'include.'
ReplyDeletetoday one of 'mine' -- severe visual impairment is only one of the wonderful gifts his druggie mom gave him -- realized that leaves don't just fall from the sky. he can't see the tops of the trees and no one ever thought to show him.
but, anyway, this part really resonates with me:
stop that noise
why can't you be
normal
sit back down
why are you so
stupid
This poem is as much about the absence of language as about language. By presenting the voice of only one person who is responding to another person left unvoiced, the poem draws even more attention to that second person's invisibility.
ReplyDeletethe poem feels like it's about the implied person -- the one who's not speaking, and i love that dynamic. again, lack of punctuation really works. it conveys that sort of rambling nagging some parents do without any real input/pause for the child's personality/needs. very well captured!
ReplyDeleteI feel like I was listening outside a window and the childs voice was so small and tiny from the beat down that it could no longer be heard...
ReplyDeleteMark
http://radio-nowhere.org/nb/