Thursday 1 December 2016

a 'cover' for 'I am the people"



Picture courtesy Google


am the people—the mob—the crowd—the mass. 
this line I love so much
amidst all fury and opinions
someone wants to paint me real, alive!
self-proclaimed greats of our land
they howl too much, it was not my voice,
                                                   it is not!

I am the workingman, the inventor, the maker of the world’s food and clothes.
I am the audience that witnesses history.
I have my own voice,
but, am I misled sometimes,
do I have the right education,
do I have the right wisdom,
am I kept in a cage?
explosion of knowledge
around me
explosion of freedom
around me
am I trapped?
what was the right mixture,
the right mixture of nobility, freedom and responsibility?

I am the seed ground. I am a prairie that will stand for much ploughing. Terrible storms pass over me. I forget. The best of me is sucked out and wasted. I forget. Everything but Death comes to me and makes me work and give up what I have. And I forget.
Sometimes I growl, shake myself and spatter a few red drops for history to remember. Then—I forget.

I forget a lot
I, sometimes don’t revise my lessons
I forget and learn only to earn
I forget that I am the mob,
the people, from which my world emanates
is there a right potion of education for me,
the right kind of teachers for me
the right kind of civic sense to impart?
            .... for

The mob—the crowd—the mass—will arrive then.


Visit dVerse for more on “cover” a poem by a poet whom you admire. I chose 'I am the people' by Carl Sandburg.

10 comments:

  1. I imagine this is Sandburg's poem: https://www.poets.org/poetsorg/poem/i-am-people-mob
    This is the first time I read his poem. Thanks.
    Interesting watching your teacher version and your conversation to yourself.

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    1. yes...I have added it now...thank you...

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  2. It is a very good thing when the world wants to paint you real and alive - a poem within a poem

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  3. I wasn't acquainted with the original (not being American is my excuse) so I looked it up and found it here: https://www.poets.org/poetsorg/poem/i-am-people-mob It's quite wonderful, isn't it? And I think your response has a charm of its own.

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    1. I love Carl Sandburg's "I am the people' much, it talks for the common man. We learned this poem in school. Thank you...

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  4. really like this...how the narrator is both the witness of everything, but also the one who forgets. In a sense, a victim and a perpetrator at the same time.

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  5. Yes, an amazing cover Sreeja ~ I love your questions specially:

    I have my own voice,
    but, am I misled sometimes,
    do I have the right education,
    do I have the right wisdom,
    am I kept in a cage?

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  6. I really like your response, as well as the original.. actually also feels very apt for these days.

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  7. An valuable message and you covered it well. Thanks

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