The Bully

Jason Taylor is constantly the victim of bullying and harassment, due in part to his stammer. Already struggling to fit in, the intimidation does not help with Jason's situation. A special case with Jason is that sometimes he is hit with a double edged sword. For example, a student purposefully had a not handed to Jason, so that the teacher would be caught. As expected, Mr. Monk has Jason read the note aloud to the class. After continually stuttering and skipping words, the teacher keeps having Jason read the note, humiliating him in front of the class.
Jason was also bullied for being with his mom. Ross Wilcox sneers, "Jason Taylor goes to the pictures with Mummy!" He then continues to attack Jason's stammer, pretending that he had one only to mock poor Jason. A crowd behind them grinned and watched on. This only shows that bullying another peer is for amusement. Nothing good can arise from harassing another, or mocking them. Even being condescending can only belittle another and make them feel worthless.
The bullying and harassment Jason receives feeds his inner self to write the poems he shows to Madame Crommelynck. The attacks shape Jason's true character.

Spooks

          Jason, who is already an outsider, finds himself in a seemingly usually social position when he is invited to the Spooks. The Spooks is a club of boys who have been "lifer" Black Swan Green residents. Being that his family recently moved there, this invitation is a compliment to Jason. Jason shows up at the meeting point to find that Moran has also been selected. Their task is to run through several backyards consisting of different challenges, and sprint to the finish point in under 15 minutes. Despite the fact that a story is about the journey and not the destination, the short story is that Jason meets his goal and is potentially now a member of the Spooks club. His friend Moran, however, is still missing. Jason fears the worst, and his instinct, his inner self, kicks in and forces him to run to find Moran and ensure his friend's safety. This act causes Jason to lose his spot in the Spooks.
          This event is important in understanding who Jason really is; his inner self, and not the outer on that others want to see. Most readers, after following Jason this far, would have most likely expected Jason to stay and keep his spot in Spooks. By running back for his friend, the reader gains important insight to Jason's real thinking, that a true friendship is more important than a membership in a club.

Found Poem

Knife on china

A whooshy thud

A plate smashed

Julia blew out her cheeks

Three Stars?

Miserably, I held up four fingers

Just a rocky patch

That’s all

Really

Don’t worry

Questions Aren’t Questions

Questions Are Bullets

Sometimes…

Your mother and I…

He’s hiding his eyes

Your mother and I…

You

An outcast of society
Jason hides his true self
He uses a pencil to escape social anxiety
As he takes his journal off the shelf

Although he looks to escape his reality
He seeks for acceptance in actuality
He hides his poems from peers
To avoid the unavoidable tears.

We will lie to keep them hidden
Those secrets that are internal
Its hard to keep them from being overridden
By those who seek to break you, and destroy your internal journal

Poems are one's true self
Not the outside self
That others want to be
No, no that it not you, you see

Try, try again
Write with your true you
Not the false you, you think you are
Alas, you have been caught!
Because that, I can assure you, you are not

Poetry does not require acceptance
In fact, try to keep your distance
From those who criticize you
Simply because they are not you

The Goose Affair

Despite our suspicion

Of Mr. Taylor's ambition

We were told by Mrs. Zimmer

To calm down and simmer

Trying to escape the reality

Of his life's duality

Dad avoids the over looming fact

That being a Dad is only an act

Like a wild goose chase

Ending at the third base

Mrs. Taylor finds the truth

And stab's Jason's youthful youth

Love is a tricky concern

Difficult enough to churn

The hearts of loved ones

Like the violent beating of drums

Struggling to say goodbye

Dad can only cry, "Your Mother and I..."

Memoir of a Sleeping Kitten

As promised... 

The kitten slept by the lake

Finders Keepers Losers Weepers

In a box, Squelch held the kitten

without fear of being bitten

He was well aware of the state

of the sleeping cat

A secret he had

that he refused to share

as he petted the bare fur

of the sleeping kitten

The kitten slept by the lake

Finders Keepers Losers Weepers

Jason's interest piqued

upon observing the kitten looking meek

He removed his nobbly glove

to give the kitten some love

Squelch threw the sleeping cat

like a baseball being hit by a bat

Yours! he screamed

as he ran from the carnation

for Jason to digest the situation

The kitten slept by the lake

Finders Keepers Losers Weepers

Cold and inelastic

like frozen water snapping plastic

She no longer slept

For t'was but a game of life

That ended in scaring strife

She dropped

She thudded

The kitten slept by the lake

Finders Keepers Losers Weepers

Anything Could Happen

Monday Oct 27 21:33