Mr. Rosewater Posted January 11, 2010 Share Posted January 11, 2010 Since I see there are other poets around this site...here's a poem I wrote when I was feelin' a bit cynical about school. The House of Academia Its got a high end paint job that’s for sure lines laser cut colors expertly chosen earth tones for the liberal arts black and white for the sciences behind the colors within the rooms words are prudently picked and spoken to the proper audience in the living room the undergrads speak excited words to everyone in the kitchen the grad students eat chinese take-out and speak serious words to the undergrads that drift in to cook Ramen the PhD candidates lock themselves in private rooms and mumble to themselves In the windowless attic The professors rehearse Who’s afraid of Virginia Woolf? Over and over and over again as Elizabeth Taylor moves from room to room observes refuses to say i love you and pours herself another drink Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Samedy Posted January 11, 2010 Share Posted January 11, 2010 Nice poem. I understood most of the analogies in your poem, except the last one. Could you explain what you were trying to get accross with that last stanza? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr. Rosewater Posted January 11, 2010 Author Share Posted January 11, 2010 The last stanza is just another reference to the movie "Who's afraid of Virginia Woolf" in which Elizabeth Taylor plays the daughter of the president of a university and she and her husband, played by Richard Burton, do nothing but drink and degrade one another. They needle one anothers insecurities without remorse or restraint while getting hammered. The point of the poem was just me coming to the conclusion that the "best" and "brightest" in our culture also often don't have a friggin' clue. About love life or anything else.Taylors appearance symbolized (to me) the rock bottom of the upper classes and the intellectual elite. They too have the ability to disconnect themselves from everything and just drink drink drink and are often lost lost lost all the while maintaining an attitude of superiority. Thanks for reading it and asking. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ellie2006 Posted January 11, 2010 Share Posted January 11, 2010 I liked the poem too! As someone also in the academia, I totally agree that having book smarts doesnt mean that you're the "best" or the "brightest." You got to be committed and passionate, for sure, and to a certain extent, a bit masochistic Cynicism also comes with the territory too. Hope you're feeling better about school nowadays. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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