educate me

never been a fan of graded writing
don’t dumb down my readability
or teach me to actively confuse
simplicity with stupidity
small words with less meaning
and that the big ones are too expensive
it ain’t true

if something takes a little more effort to read
simply because it needs, or should,
need a kiss,
an embrace
or that smile
to last a little longer
than a business casual affair
then let it!     if i can

what am i so in a hurry
to get to
other than this?
eating, sleeping, working, ******* like i did before
and will do again, over and over
geez. we can take the time. trust me
there is no hurry
time is just as well spent
stopping
looking at the words
those that want
to spin my hamsters
right out of their wheels

and yet, a great poem
like a great Langston Hughes
needs to spend
the mind and body
like utter exhaustion
as more than
a different way to fill time

it would be truly dumb
to continue sharpening
upgrading, and admiring
these shiny tools
that we don’t ever
ask ourselves to use

© lyw

from the Bitter River
Langston Hughes:

In the snake-like hiss of its stream
Where I drank of the bitter river
That strangled my dream:
The book studied-but useless,
Tool handled-but unused,
Knowledge acquired but thrown away,
Ambition battered and bruised.
Oh, water of the bitter river
With your taste of blood and clay,
You reflect no stars by night,
No sun by day.

 

 

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