Academia Nut - Writers Forum

Achilles · 12-03-2005, 05:10 PM

I pride myself on useless facts
and boring lines from boring texts;
I study hard and rarely learn
anything of any use.

I know this, I'll bet on that,
I know the other must be true.
Nowadays a meager few still
search and gather vital clues.

Somehow I've gained a healthy want
for seeking and discovering
the useless bits of life.
I study, read, and calculate
the very things that I will hate
sometime when I am old.

So sad, this curse--academic thirst,
which pulls my mind away from things
that will truly shape my life.
Frienships, love, experience,
all lost to stuffy, ancient books
on danger, romance, plight, and strife--
so useless and absurd.

But still I read and still I learn,
and slowly, blindly, I will morph
into a loathed pop-culture spurn.

Ilan Bouchard · 12-03-2005, 06:35 PM

I'm afraid I didn't like this one, my good Achilles. The infrequent rhyme and iamb made it difficult to find a beat, or even lack thereof, to read with; the result was clumsy.

I'm quite puzzled over this stanza:

Quote:

I know this, I'll bet on that,
I know the other must be true.
Nowadays a meager few still
search and gather vital clues.

But like this one:

Quote:

But still I read and still I learn,
and slowly, blindly, I will morph
into a loathed pop-culture spurn.

I like the use of spurn, and has a certain snap that ends the poem well.

Mind you, it's not the lack of a structure to the poem that I don't like. Somehow it just seems to be an awkward blend of freeverse and some sort of rhyme that leaves a deformed hybrid.

**Penelope** · 12-03-2005, 07:37 PM

I did like this poem for a number of reasons. I think the most compelling one was how well the lack of style suited the topic chosen. Torn away from the seemingly meanful aspects of life to be bogged down in the despair of acquiring knowledge. And then this!

Quote:

I study, read, and calculate
the very things that I will hate
sometime when I am old.

yes! Very delightful expectations of what will and won't appeal to you down the road. Using the word 'hate' too. That added a wonderful attitude to this poem and got me chuckling.

'discovering the useless bits of life' - my mother used to say she had a vast amount of useless bits of information cluttering up her mind on any given moment.

Achilles · 12-03-2005, 09:49 PM

Thanks for the read both of you. I agree with what you said, Ilan, and I often struggle with free verse when my mind just wants to write in rhythm. No matter how hard I try, iamb still creeps in. But I also agree with Penelope, I think the haphazard sing-songy style fits the subject. Eh, whatever, I'll do better next time.

Achilles · 12-04-2005, 08:09 AM

I just thought of the title "Academia Nut" but found it rather corny. Do you think it's clever or blatantly punny?

**Penelope** · 12-04-2005, 08:30 AM

Hilarious! Go for it!

Achilles · 12-04-2005, 09:48 AM

Hehe, that's pretty cheesy.

I love it.

Achilles · 12-04-2005, 09:52 AM

Does anyone know how to change the thread title? I changed the first post title, but I still haven't figured out how to rename a thread since the vbulletin switch.

**Penelope** · 12-04-2005, 12:16 PM

You use the thread tools at the top of the post to switch the title. I'll do it for you if you like.

It will help the reader realize the poem is meant to be amusing. oh .. and isn't it cheesy?

**Penelope** · 12-04-2005, 12:17 PM

oh .. it says those are 'admin' tools .. maybe you can't see them?

Achilles · 12-04-2005, 12:46 PM

Nope, can't see them. Though I'm likely just blind. Thanks for editing it.

J.R. MacLean · 12-04-2005, 12:55 PM

I felt the title was clever and so read the poem. Definitely funny in spots, like stand-up, or in this case, sit down comedy. A likeable effort. I didn't quite get the ending. Isn't spurn a verb?
cheers
jrmac