Shouts From Down Under

When will the 3rd & 4th generation come? You know the verse

A Poem written for fun. Aren't they all?


Our Generation

by Jordan Nichols (14y/o)

Our generation will be known for nothing.
Never will anybody say,
We were the peak of mankind.
That is wrong, the truth is
Our generation was a failure.
Thinking that
We actually succeeded
Is a waste. And we know
Living only for money and power
Is the way to go.
Being loving, respectful, and kind
Is a dumb thing to do.
Forgetting about that time,
Will not be easy, but we will try.
Changing our world for the better
Is something we never did.
Giving up
Was how we handled our problems.
Working hard
Was a joke.
We knew that
People thought we couldn’t come back
That might be true,
Unless we turn things around

Now the poem again… backwards.

Unless we turn things around
That might be true,
People thought we couldn’t come back
We knew that
Was a joke.
Working hard
Was how we handled our problems.
Giving up
Is something we never did.
Changing our world for the better
Will not be easy, but we will try.
Forgetting about that time,
Is a dumb thing to do.
Being loving, respectful, and kind
Is the way to go.
Living only for money and power
Is a waste. And we know
We actually succeeded
Thinking that
Our generation was a failure.
That is wrong, the truth is
We were the peak of mankind.
Never will anybody say,
Our generation will be known for nothing.

*****

From despair turned to hope, in a change of direction. You can read for yourself, if you didn't already know or had heard, of the history of this simple but profound poem.

http://pulptastic.com/jordan-nichols-poem/



"...visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation..."

Exodus 34/7
Exodus 20/5
Ezekiel 18/19-20
Numbers 14/18
Deuteronomy 24/16
and more...

We can easily base things we write on something taken out of context, and set those words to underpin our imagined world; to justify everything from thereafter.

We can do this in every aspect of life.

With books, with novels, with stories, with poems, with songs, with whatever it is, this works ok when it's fiction, and lives don't depend on it.

But wait. Even with fiction, people still absorb it and react to it. They feel an influence. They may act on what they've read in our stories.

I was once warned, and learned a little the further I've gone on, that we can't write something in a novel, without warning people that it's not a "user manual" of how-to advice.

What if whoever read it assumed it was real, accurate and advisable? What if they carried out something in this big bad real world, thinking their knowledge was adequate, a working set of skills, learned and taken from the patchy slippery slope of our make believe.

People have a right to believe what they will in this life, in spite of the stance taken by some politicians in the past, by Kings, by world leaders, so-called. This is what I believe is right.

The question could be asked, Is a right always right?

Can our world ever achieve human perfectionism, in our social lives, by design and adherence to laws set up by us?

Lawyers have a field day already, sorting through clauses and loopholes and precedents, and I don't have to point out how far humanity is from even basic success in areas such as everyone having enough to eat and drink, being clean, housed, educated, spiritual freedom, and a sense of belonging, self respect, respect, and a healthy outlook on each other, and our environment.

Where am I going with this double handful of mixed up thoughts?

People take things out of context, and then either worship, what they build from it, or criticise and despise.

In reading those Bible verses, we could feel that there is no hope whatsoever. It's a given that there is nobody perfect. Believers or not, we know that everyone fails at one time or another.

But those verses can be completely turned around by reading the "other half" and the surrounding context. It's not difficult or beyond a child's ability to grasp the concept.

Instead of rights, that may or may not be right, there are times we can choose to forego our rights, to set things right. Is this a soft headed idea? Is this a salute to our own weakness and failure to fight?

I was thinking today of praying. Just the simple act of praying. How do you do it? Who do you do it to? Who do you ask? (Rhetorical questions)

Surely it has to be the simplest personal proof, one way or another, of whether what we believe in is real or not? Ah but there is the thing, if you let your thoughts wander closer to this prospect.



The prospect of praying. Actually (uhg hate that word) praying.

There is an honest way of doing it, and a preassigned way.

How would you feel if someone read your book that you wrote and agonised over, but first said, well, I don't believe this author is real. But I'll read it and then ask if the author is real, and if they don't answer, then I'll have proof that they don't exist.

Prayer can be out of context. So can blaming someone for stuff, and not looking at the circumstances.

What a confused world we live in, where the only way to express this can be expressed in circles and clouds, hints and carefulness?

Today, I realised that writers are generally thinkers. Perhaps deeper thinkers than the general populace, and perhaps further down the road of acceptance of thoughts, analysis, understanding, even dare I suggest, wisdom? Widsom, no..wisdom, isn't something that we can be taught, but has to be experienced, and nutted out.

Writers may be the one group all over the globe who can resist the temptation to take the easy way, to take stuff out of context and weave whatever world they want out of it, and make it into a self serving fiction.

Instead, perhaps some can be persuaded to use this craft to attempt some weight lifting. Lift the weight of people's need, human beings full of unimaginable depth and complexity, and yet with the wisdom to take words and accept the simple meaning of their composition.

Accepting one another doesn't seem to be getting any easier, despite laws and education and all that stuff.

Children have been nominated as the closest in ability to grasp the simple, malice-free treatment of another. They forgive and forget so easily.

Whereas the demonstrations of pride, ownership, dominance, selfishness and the like, cover the world like a Dementor's breath, sucking away the hope of any who just want peace.

(http://media.photobucket.com/user/Chibik_sad/media/VirtualH/Dementor.jpg.html)



The poem by Jordan Nichols may stun the world, at least those who really want to read it, and accept it, and change- to bring about the hope of the reversed purpose contained in his simply structured words.

It may stun the world if people read it.

Today, someone expressed sadness, in a private and kindly, well meaning way, about the people with disabilities I was helping support.
"As a parent it would be so sad to have a child like this" and also, "They are so well behaved, the group, and fit in so well".

I was able to confidently point out that all of these people in the group were quite happy with their life, and there was no need to be sad.

What I didn't say was that the only reason to be sad, was for the rest of us. Yes, we are the ones who continually want more. We are the ones who want there to be more to life, to want our rights, to demand the best, to want to salve every desire, feed every passion, give ourselves to whatever our heart wants.

People with disabilities do this too. But from what I've experienced so far, the majority of them accept how life is, see how they fit in, and they are satisfied with the simple basics each day.

They don't take life out of context. They live what they are.

We should write what it is. We should write what it can be. We should write, to include us all, for the better, for each other.



And, sometimes, you just have to know when you've written enough.

For me, I think that was quite a while ago.


Sparky



Post Script.
I have read claims that Jordan's poem was a form of plagiarism of one written a few years before, by Jonathan Reed.

Well, I don't know, but whoever wrote it, the reversal of meaning by reversing the reading, still stands.

http://genius.com/Jonathan-reed-the-lost-generation-annotated

Oh, and Lasseter's Last Ride?
If only we could all write like the author of that book.
http://www.ebay.com.au/gds/Collecting-Ion-L-Idriess-Books-/10000000001244436/g.h...