You’re doing it again, he said.
What?
Hiding behind metaphors.
What do you mean?
‘Claws’, ‘Whales’. ‘Billabongs’. All metaphors. Why don’t you say what you want to say? Get it out in the open.
I’m afraid.
Of what?
Of how ugly it all is. All that anger.
Face it ! Stare it down !
What would it look like?
It would be a different poem. It would bang and bellow. Draw blood. Howl with expletives.
Would anyone read it?
Possibly not. But it would be honest. And it wouldn’t have billabongs in it. Billabongs have to be earned. Not brought in after four lines. Your poem is the most polite poem on anger I’ve ever read.
John Malone 
Madam, what have you earned this last fortnight?
I have earned a billabong
Ah, that’s fine, that is.
I really like this one. 🙂
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thanks; I’ve not done that before: savaged one of my own poems but I thought it had it coming 🙂
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Savaged? I suppose. You could meld them into one poem. A speak and respond. Then it’s not trading death for life. 🙂
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Ya gots ta earn yer billabongs, John. I hadn’t thought about that, but it’s true. Isn’t it?
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it certainly is 🙂 everything has to be earned, I remember my writing coach telling me that
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Hardest on ourselves
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indeed, Beth; we need to get some perspective: there was a very funny film aback in 2003 called ‘Anger Management’ with Jack Nicholson and Adam Sandler which managed to take some heat out of the topic 🙂
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I dig the metaphors. I was imagining a clawed whale beached on the gentle shores of a quiet billabong.
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🙂 thank you for that; I think the last line of the post pretty well says it all — and I hate quoting myself but here goes — ‘your poem is the most polite poem on anger I’ve ever read’
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Excellent stuff. I enjoyed the first poem, but there was an honesty in the second one which made me laugh aloud.
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thanks 🙂
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I can’t wait until the day I earn a billabong 😉🖤
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it’s a day to be celebrated, for sure 🙂
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I really love both of these. I loved the billabong one and I also agree that real angry poems are quite a different beast but both are good in their own way.
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thanks; I am glad: each has its place 🙂
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That is what a metaphor is for ☑️
to gently open a poetic door 🚪😎
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oh, that’s very clever, David 🙂
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Hope your metaphors are bigger than mine. ‘fraid I would be hanging out on both ends, or worse yet the boulder of my metaphor would just roll away and yet another poem of exposing myself, dripping anger ‘n all and no metaphorical towel to cover up with. 🙂
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🙂
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