Saturday, October 8, 2016

Really!

Hello, all. I have been trying to post all day but I guess server traffic was just too heavy with the latest political fallout.
I hope that things are going well for you in your part of the world. Me, I am managing to stay focused and to keep trusting in the Lord.

Inspiration
I was asked for a word of advice concerning her child, by one of my blog readers who lives in  a country outside of the U.S. While my years of teaching involved mostly preteens, I have not addressed that audience since I stopped teaching. I will be doing that now. So bear with me, my blog readers, I must answer a mother's call concerning her child.

I have thought about the best way to handle this and decided to put it in a poem. It may be a format that young people will gravitate to, I don't know. We shall see.

Hey you! Yes, it's you
I'm talking to
So you think you know all
That you need to know about
Life and its ups and downs
You think that you have
It all figured out.

Since your Dad is too busy
Or is simply just not around
You figure that you don't need
Your Momma's apron strings any longer
You needed that stuff when you were younger
You figure that since you can think
For yourself now and have grown stronger
It's time you acted like a man
And started doing things that
Some of your new friends can.

When some old busybody asks
"What are you doing, boy you know better
And what would your Momma say?"
You do your swag and tell her to step off
And not to dis you
You feel badly about talking to
An aged person this way but you can't
Be dissed in front of the crew
You just hope that the Lord understands
And will forgive you.

When your Momma tries to talk with you
While wringing her hands and crying
You swear under your breath and tell
Her that you are trying
To do the best that you can but the time
Comes in every boy's life when he has
To stop hiding behind his Momma
And to be a man.

You go to your room and slam the door
Turn your music up to drown out
 Her fussing and/or her tears
As she slams pots while fixing your food
Or phones her sister to talk about your attitude.

You think to yourself that she is living
Back in the day
But things are not done like that today
You figure that she is just not in the
Know, down with it, crump or whatever
Word you young folks use as your way
Of saying that you know all that you need to know
About the situations of your life
You, after all, can out think your Momma any day
Of the week without even trying
Besides, she is only a woman and all
She is good at is fussing and crying.

She does not even know how to 
Do one certain thing or to do another
But, it doesn't matter child,
She is still your mother.

If you get into trouble because of
Your gang banging ways
Who is going to be by your side
Through all of your dark days?

Oh no you didn't just say that to me
What do you mean, "That's what she is supposed to do."
Well, mister if that is so
Then that same rule should apply to you!

No, no no, you can't have it both ways
Since you say that is what she is supposed to do
My question is, "Who told you that?"
Oh so you say that she brought
You into this world; you did not ask to be born
So, that makes you a big man and you
Feel justified in your actions even though
Her heart to shreds is torn?

Who taught you how to tie your shoes and to use a spoon
To spell your name and made you feel
Like you were somebody no matter what
Other folks said about you
She, young man, taught you to 
Hold your head up and to be proud of you.

And this is the thanks that she gets for
Standing by and protecting you
Now, who is being ungrateful and
Not doing what he ought to?

No, no, you cannot have it both ways
You just finished telling me what she was supposed to do
Then I say again, "Mister, what about you?
"Supposed to do" tell me, Mister, how
That phrase pertains to you?

You cannot say that you are just a kid, 
And that you only do what you must
Because you don't have to talk back
And make your Momma unhappy or
Make her fuss.

All you have to do is a few chores
Around the house
And make good grades or at least try
What you don't have to do is make her cry.

If you are being bullied or are having 
Problems at school
Then sit down and talk to your Momma
And tell her what is wrong in your world
Because at the end of the day
She is the one who will always
Do her best to find a way
To get you out of whatever situation you are in
But she can only do it if you sit down
And discuss it with her like a true son
Who values her as his mother and also as a friend .

If this poem has made you think
About  how you treat your Momma and
Maybe that you should not make her cry
Then son, be the man that you want to be
And make her proud of you, her posterity.

Oh, and that Daddy that I mentioned
That happens not to be around
Don't be sad about it 
You just decide within yourself that 
You are going to make something of
Yourself and show him what he missed
Or is missing in the son that he had no time
For and your Momma, he decided to dis.


(Answers to questions raised on yesterday's blog concerning the electric current will be addressed on Sunday's blog. I just felt that a mother's call for help with her son took precedence over all  else that I would have put in the blog. I apologize for the fact that you had to wait another day for your answers.)

Writing
Working on my piece for the Ladies Day that I am scheduled to do on Saturday week.

Poetry
The last of the corrections (added an Index of First Lines) has been completed on W.O.W. by the publisher and the new books have arrived. Yes!

Quips/Quotes
You must lose some things in order to gain notoriety, among them your private conversations because, in this era of technology, ears come in all forms.

Upcoming Events

Inspirational Speaker for Ladies Day – Church of Christ at Thirteenth and Lee, Mayfield, KY, October 15, 2016, 10 am. Copies of W.O.W. will be available on Saturday, as well.

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