Courage

More than half of what people call courage is a combination of an overlarge capacity for avoidance and a tendency to laugh at inappropriate moments. The rest of it is the ability to look the things you cannot avoid in the face, and cry for what you cannot laugh at.

Inspired by a limerick-athon*

Has anyone noticed how the weather
Is running about hither and thither
The afternoons bake and while the nights don’t chill
They do tell us summer isn’t here still
And it’s bringing me to the end of my tether!
——–
Long long days of evaluation
Are followed by yet more examination
Setting papers and correcting them
Coming across an occassional gem
The lows and highs of teaching [...]

Recruitment time

Bad poetry arrives
Out of a desperation so intense
That words do not suffice
Unless randomly capitalised
Out of fighting with committees again
And half-the-class-walking-outs
Sorrow, frustration and anger
That could explode heads off people’s shoulders
Out of adrenaline
Pumped by hands-in-the-air-I-have-a-question
Excitement, exhilaration and the enjoyment
Of smiles, nods and fast-scribbling pens
Bad poetry arrives
Out of conflicting emotions
And reactions to same-old-same-old
That defy the rules of grammar

A poem by someone else

Lovely as lovely as can be. Via India Uncut.
Don’t talk to me of love.  I’ve had an earful
And I get tearful when I’ve downed a drink or two.
I’m one of your talking wounded.
I’m a hostage. I’m maroonded.
But I’m in Paris with you.
Yes, I’m angry at the way I’ve been bamboozled
And resentful at the mess that [...]

Out of the closet

I got this from Dimmy, who I’ve decided is a closet feminist: 
A poem for us….
I shave my legs,
I sit down to pee.
And I can justify
any shopping spree.
Don’t go to a barber,
but a beauty salon.
I can get a massage
without a hard-on.
I can balance the checkbook,
I can pump my own gas.
Can talk to my friends,
about the size [...]