deepundergroundpoetry.com
Punch an Author
Punch an author,
do it quick,
before she makes a kiddie sick.
Punch an author,
do it right,
or else the watchers of the night
may bloom like flowers in the light
and thick like kudzu choke us all,
before they pierce with points of view
the generation soft and new.
Punch an author,
do it now!
He’s unimportant, anyhow.
And in our bland utopia
no thought will cross
a quiet mind, because no mind
will be quiet. Quiet’s suspicious, after all,
it breeds a dark, Satanic thrall…
the lure and silhouettes of those impossible…
the thinking man and woman of
the island Individual.
do it quick,
before she makes a kiddie sick.
Punch an author,
do it right,
or else the watchers of the night
may bloom like flowers in the light
and thick like kudzu choke us all,
before they pierce with points of view
the generation soft and new.
Punch an author,
do it now!
He’s unimportant, anyhow.
And in our bland utopia
no thought will cross
a quiet mind, because no mind
will be quiet. Quiet’s suspicious, after all,
it breeds a dark, Satanic thrall…
the lure and silhouettes of those impossible…
the thinking man and woman of
the island Individual.
Published 21st Feb 2023
Author's Note
On the recent controversy around publisher Puffin editing the works of children’s author Roald Dahl with the help of a team of “sensitivity readers”*, as well as my general rage at the notion that some people hold that writers and artists are in the service industry and therefore obliged to do only as their fans wish. A notion which no-one who’s ever written anything interesting has ever adhered to, IMHO.
* https://amp.theguardian.com/books/2023/feb/20/roald-dahl-books-rewrites-criticism-language-altered
https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/books/news/roald-dahl-edits-books-censored-witches-b2285734.html?amp
* https://amp.theguardian.com/books/2023/feb/20/roald-dahl-books-rewrites-criticism-language-altered
https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/books/news/roald-dahl-edits-books-censored-witches-b2285734.html?amp
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Commenting Preference:
The author encourages honest critique.
21st Feb 2023 5:30pm
WOW! Very good write.
Now this is something that makes you want to rub some dirt on it.
Bat
Now this is something that makes you want to rub some dirt on it.
Bat
21st Feb 2023 6:45pm
Dear CR,
I don’t condone anything that hurts others. Free speech, if we continue to systematically chip away its value will be the end of anything creative or otherwise. Never mind these authors wrote within the context of their era.
If the language is problematic, why can’t educators teach why it’s a problem now instead of hiding it? At any rate, I admire your poem for calling out the issue. H🌷
I don’t condone anything that hurts others. Free speech, if we continue to systematically chip away its value will be the end of anything creative or otherwise. Never mind these authors wrote within the context of their era.
If the language is problematic, why can’t educators teach why it’s a problem now instead of hiding it? At any rate, I admire your poem for calling out the issue. H🌷
21st Feb 2023 7:15pm
Yeah, if the new editions came with talking points for teachers about how language and attitudes have changed I wouldn’t care, it’s just the alterations to the actual texts that rankle.
Anonymous
21st Feb 2023 7:41pm
Mr Runes. Many thanks. Delivered with your usual precision and stark charm. And so the moral guardians of the land have spoke. It's ok though, Fifty Shades of Shite et al will heat the accepted temperature, until kids are 'adult' enough to make their own informed judgements. Yeah, right. It's hard enough to get them to read.
Honoria makes a very acute observation. This would enable the pupils to enjoy the works in their full glory and yet become informed of wider social issues.
Honoria makes a very acute observation. This would enable the pupils to enjoy the works in their full glory and yet become informed of wider social issues.
