Welcome back, readers!
This week’s “Poem of the Week” is yet another limerick chain that brings to light a couple of flaws of human nature that I cannot tolerate in the slightest—two psychosocial defects of humanity that always get under my skin and bring my blood to a boil, regardless of the environment in question, but most notably when it comes to the junior high/high school scene. These flaws, of course, are cowardice and hypocrisy, and though I probably should have included a poem on this specific topic in my anthology The Sun Shan’t Set on Me! Poems from My Younger Days (Ages 16 to 23)—especially seeing as how both these traits in particular have illustrated for me the callous, oblivious, self- serving, and outright superficial nature that characterized many of the kids I went to school with back in the day when I was still an adolescent—I nonetheless hope that it isn’t too late for me to provide today’s younger readers with a lesson that they can benefit from at their age when it comes to treating their peers. Not only that, but I also hope that there are some readers out there, old or young, who can find some catharsis in this story for whatever similar nonsense they themselves have had to endure during their teenage years. Either way, I hope you all can garner one thing or another out of this week’s piece, so without further ado, enjoy!
*****
What Goes Around Comes Around, Jack!
June 29, 2012
I once knew a kid named Ken
Who really sucked as a friend,
For he’d never help out
Those who were in doubt,
But rather save his own ass in the end.
His behavior was such a disgrace,
For he’d be friendly to one’s face,
At least for a little while
Just to make one smile
And more or less put one in one’s place.
Then again, when his friends needed aid,
Getting himself involved he forbade.
He’d go cower in a corner
As the events took order
When there was a save to be made,
And in the rare times he did get involved
When a friend’s problem needed to be solved,
He’d be openly snide,
Take the antagonist’s side,
And make the situation further devolve.
Worse yet, the little twerp had the knack
Of talking behind his friends’ backs
And spreading foul lies
That fools were quick to buy
And repeat via their own verbal attacks.
Needless to say, he was a punk
Who needed to be shut up in a trunk
‘Til he finally grew a spine
And stepped into line,
Never again to succumb to such junk.
Many a friend did he betray
In such selfish, duplicitous ways,
And he snickered all the while
With a devious smile,
Oblivious to his upcoming dark days,
For soon others found him out
And learned what he was all about,
So they hatched a plan
To stick it to the young man
And give his callous ego a good clout.
So one day, right before class,
Some students started teasing his ass,
And that bout they did win,
For they got under his skin
And made him shout back words so crass.
The other students added to the pain
By laughing at him ‘til he went insane
And yelled at them to back off,
At which they did scoff
And carry on laughing as his patience waned.
All the while Ken tried to fight back,
The schemers launched their own verbal attacks,
Mock-whining, “Does it matter, Ken?”
And embarrassing him even more, but then
The teacher arrived and asked, “What’s going on, Jack?”
Ken then explained what was going on
All the while the teacher had been gone
About how the others teased
Him as they pleased
And how they were all in the wrong.
As if things weren’t already tense,
The plotters, in their self-defense,
Revealed their whole scheme
And what it all did mean
And what they expected from Ken hence.
As the teacher considered both sides
Of the situation, he did decide
The best judgment to make
Was to have the schemers take
A detention to help them swallow their pride.
As for the coward named Ken,
Considering what he’d just been in,
He was made to apologize,
Standing ‘fore his classmates’ eyes,
About just what a creep he’d been.
He swore to the others up and down
Before each and every one of their frowns
That if he ever again pulled the crap
That had given him his rap,
He’d do them all a favor and leave town.
Well, believe it or not, Ken kept his word
And never again acted like a turd,
For even though it was the hard way,
He learned his lesson anyway,
Since the crap he’d once said he’d now heard,
And while it took him long to win back the respect
Of the people whom he did reject
And the plotters who had planned
To expose the young man,
He finally did, to which he didn’t object.
That still didn’t excuse him, though,
For committing what had caused them their woe,
And I’m advising you all here
This message loud and clear:
Having a spine is the only way to go…
…unless, of course, you yourself have the knack
For wearing a yellow stripe on your back,
But then be forewarned
For a truckload of scorn,
‘Cause what goes around comes around, Jack!
*****
Well, there you have it, folks, yet another limerick chain for this weekly segment of mine. Next week, though, I promise to provide you with something a little different from what I’ve been giving you the past nine weeks, so keep your eyes open for that. Also, as always, please don’t hesitate to visit my author page on Smashwords.com or to look for any of my current three books on Amazon.com, BarnesandNoble.com, Diesel-eBooks.com, WHSmith.co.uk, and Kobobooks.com, and be on the lookout for my latest book, UWWX: The Underground Women’s Wrestling Xperiment, which I am pretty much finishing up as we speak (I promise!). Until next time, then, happy reading!
Regards,
Dustin M. Weber
AuthorDustinWeber 