Poem for the day 6 - A Puppy called Puberty

At times it must be awkward for young boys as they develop, I think this poem describes it with humour and you can feel the different emotions the boy is struggling with. Good find Luckygirl

Thanks for this poem, Luckygirl.

Crikey!

'Why' springs to mind.

Yes why Copy it on here? There are much better poems from the Liverpool poets than that. My favorite is I think
So Many Different Lengths of Time

How long does a man live after all?
A thousand days or only one?
One week or a few centuries?
How long does a man spend living or dying
and what do we mean when we say gone forever?

Adrift in such preoccupations, we seek clarification.
We can go to the philosophers
but they will weary of our questions.
We can go to the priests and rabbis
but they might be busy with administrations.

So, how long does a man live after all?
And how much does he live while he lives?
We fret and ask so many questions –
then when it comes to us
the answer is so simple after all.

A man lives for as long as we carry him inside us,
for as long as we carry the harvest of his dreams,
for as long as we ourselves live,
holding memories in common, a man lives.

His lover will carry his man’s scent, his touch:
his children will carry the weight of his love.
One friend will carry his arguments,
another will hum his favourite tunes,
another will still share his terrors.

And the days will pass with baffled faces,
then the weeks, then the months,
then there will be a day when no question is asked,
and the knots of grief will loosen in the stomach
and the puffed faces will calm.
And on that day he will not have ceased
but will have ceased to be separated by death.

How long does a man live after all?

A man lives so many different lengths of time.

Brian Patten

well I liked it luckygirl it was lighthearted,and it amused you, and me xx

Sounds Percy to me. It might be alright if it was written more obviously for other young boys, perhaps in a book aimed specifically at them. But I think it's aimed at adults.

And I don't for one moment believe it's that's bad for young fellers!

That should have read "purvey! Quite enough about 'percy' already!

Or 'pervy' even, jingl?

Bit of a sense of humour failure going on here! I think it is a very clever and funny poem. Why did I post it? - so that others could enjoy it too.

Each to his own.

I knew that word didn't look right.

will say again I thought it was funny,and just says things I have heard from the men in my life not pervy,just what happens in the life and boxers of an adolescent male

I thought the poem was amusing, and quite a witty way to talk of something that used to be (still is?) so unnecessarily taboo.

When my DS was approaching 11 he wanted to read The Diary of Adrian Mole. I thought I'd better vet it first. So I read it and thought it perfectly fine for him to read and passed it over. Only a little way into the back AM talks about having wet dreams. I wasn't sure if DS knew about this and awaited him reaching that page....
He reached it, read it and asked me very innocently what a wet dream was. I explained, keeping it light, no big deal etc, because I expected he might be a bit embarrassed at having his mum talk about such things. But the reaction I got was anything but embarrassment - he nearly choked with laughter, fell off the sofa and was rolling about on the floor clutching his sides, asking me between splutters if it might happen to him? Er, yes, quite possibly... (cue even louder howls of laughter).

a little way into the book, not back...

I thought it was funny.

Lighten up, Stansgran

Suggests to me, an elderly man thinking far too much about young boys.

"lighten up" is a pathetic phrase. Why should someone change their opinion just to fit in with others?

- where does the elderly man feature?

I think he was knocking on a bit when he wrote it.

Remember Graham Ovenden? His paintings were accepted as works of art - until he was found to be a paedophile.

Merlot I don't need lightening up .i think you are rather rude to say that . As a Liverpudlian I wanted to point out that the Liverpool poets could also write good stuff as well as schoolboy humour . brian Patten ,roger Mcgough and mike McGear are generally looked on as light weight but I think they have good qualities.

I apologise for being rude, Stansgran but I don't think it was fair to question why Luckygirl put the poem on here for us to read.

It was obviously just a bit of light-hearted fun.

I think it is more than schoolboy humour - it is very cleverly thought out and constructed. Poetry does not have to be serious, and some of the best poems are witty.

I agree Luckygirl, and actually, Stansgran find this comment "As a Liverpudlian I wanted to point out that the Liverpool poets could also write good stuff as well as schoolboy humour " rather "off" ! (And patronising, judgmental etc)

Are you putting yourself forward as someone who decides what is "good stuff" and what is schoolboy humour?

To be honest, I'd much rather members posted all sorts of poetry and left me to decide for myself, thanks all the same.