William Saint George
William Saint George
Nov 20, 2013

Kindergarten

Must children born
in the dark of night
wake up to see the morning?

Why should they live
persistent in the mind,
why should they feed on thoughts
and grow great wings
to fly like bats beneath the sky?

Why must they haunt
my waking dreams,
these fey unholy children?

Why do they call me by my name,
why do they sing my song?

Their gloating is a symphony
of heartlessness
and humour,
their toothless grins,
and gaping eyes,
their distant mien,
their slimy little tongues

their little bodies
dressed in frocks
and dancing by the fireside.

They are not ghosts
that come at night,
nor frights that stalk by day.
They are real and they are near;
they do not go away.

About This Poem

Last Few Words: Another confessional

Style/Type: Free verse

Review Request Direction: What did you think of my title?
What did you think of the rhythm or pattern or pacing?
How does this theme appeal to you?
How was the beginning/ending of the poem?
Is the internal logic consistent?

Review Request Intensity: I want the raw truth, feel free to knock me on my back

Editing Stage: Editing - rough draft

About the Author

Region, Country: Ghana, GHA

Favorite Poets: William Shakespeare

More from this author

Comments

L

Lonnie

11 years 5 months ago

Unless I am mistaken, there is more to this piece than meets the eye! It is well-crafted, haunts the reader with its intensiveness, and opens up doorways into other realms of thought. All these are the earmarks of good poetry!

Seren

Seren

11 years 5 months ago

Like Lonnie I thought there is more to this poem than meets the eye, but I do have one slight boggle

their toothless grins,
and gaping eyes,
their distant mien,
their slimy little tongues

their little bodies
dressed in frocks
and dancing by the fireside.

The use of "their" is over used in this part of the poem, and it jars a little when I read it sometimes using the same word works but for me in this instance it doesn't work, it maybe just me that thinks this ? and I am not always right

I really loved the layering in this poem there is so many lines that can be read in different ways and in doing so tells you something different every time, thanks for posting other than my boggle this really is a excellent poem that in my opinion could be made better

regards JC x

William Saint George

I agree, JC.
That part was edited several times.I'm still trying to find the best way to communicate those verses without the maddening repetition. I'm glad you pointed it out :)

Thanks