FRIDAY 5th JUNE 2020

HEADLINES

by John Yeo

The entire head took the message

Then responded with a united reply,

The nose addressed the eyes,

I will balance the glasses

You read the words.

I will sniff out the story, 

Pass the result on to the brain.

The brain will interpret 

The meaning of the words.

The magic of the poetry

Will be expressed by the mouth.

~

The ears will balance the glasses

Listen carefully to the response, 

And adjust the result accordingly.

The eyes looked down on the nose

We have no need of your sniffing,

We are reputedly 

The windows of the soul.

The light of truth

Shining directly to the brain

A shining light reflecting 

The light of creativity.

~

Then in unison the ears chorused

Without your glasses you are blind 

We can hear the music of the words.

The mouth joined in the conversation

A very wise mouth indeed! 

You must leave room for interpretation,

Each mind is unique! 

Together we make up the individual

Striving for unique expression,

Guidance is just another opinion

Generated with respect.

~

© Written by John Yeo ~ All rights reserved 

   I remember an unwilling, uninspiring English language teacher several years ago, who demonstrated some individual views on life that would have been highly criticised today. His major goal in life at the time was a high degree of self-promotion. His outward role was to attempt to instil in his pupils, (subjects), an interest in writing and appreciating poetry. He would start a session by reading his personal examples of poetry, then invite comments, which were obviously expected to be positive. The class would then be invited to write a poem on a set subject. An hour later our teacher would sit and take them apart piece by piece. The session would end by him handing out a subject to take away and use as an impetus to write a piece of poetry. When I wrote the above poem, I was influenced by some of his views and his comments. I included a couple of sentences that to this day I hope he noticed and took away with him. 

 Of course I’ve reworded and rejigged some of the words, since I resurrected it. When I look back, I can’t help thinking perhaps he wasn’t a bad teacher as he certainly stung me into action.