I Wish I'd Written This

I SHOULD HAVE WRITTEN THIS LONG AGO IN HOPES YOU MIGHT SEE IT AND STILL BE HERE

By Tim Schaefer

Online bullying? 

when I was comin' up

it was up close

and personal

and in your face

(not Facebook)

one thing it does

when you're on the receiving end

is helps to build character

so develop a hard shell

kids

like that giant tortoise at the zoo

(and shine it with turtle wax)

and have some empathy

for your tormentors

for they are hurting

the same as you

and

consider the source

can't tell you how many times

that has seen me through

never once validated

or took their words

to heart

that's called knowing who you are

never knew anyone

of my generation

(them damn hippies!)

who checked out over it

cuz

there is a place

deep inside

at your very core

where no one can hurt you

find it

it is your strength

and your reserve

and one day

it will lead you

triumphant

into the sun

The recent April challenges for Poetry Month resulted in much wonderful poetry. Impossible to single out favourites from such riches � yet this one particularly caught my eye, for its subject matter as well as its execution. I hope these words, based on personal experience, might reach and help those who need them. 

I notice that these days I don't write much socio-political stuff any more, and that I don't think highly of those I did write in my fiery youth. Such things can date easily, and the heat of the moment is not always a good place to write from. 

This poem avoids such traps by focusing on that personal aspect which is also universal, from a very human perspective.

We know that online bullying is a serious issue. Tim reminds us that it is a new form of an old problem, and that it is possible to withstand it. His words put me in mind of good fatherly advice. Which is not to say that this advice can reach all the bullied kids in the world, nor that it could get through to all of them if it did � but we have to do what we can, don't we, if we see a possibility? What better way for a poet to address the problem? We can send out our words like the proverbial bread upon the waters, and hope and pray they may have an effect.

Many of us know Tim Schaefer better as Timoteo, his blogging name. When I asked him for some details about himself, he sent me these bio notes:

Self-proclaimed desert rat Tim Schaefer resides in southern Arizona. He spent way too many years as a rock n roll radio deejay--both inside and outside the continental United States--yet somehow survived!  His poetry, essays, and short stories have appeared in South Dakota Review, Mind In Motion, The Awareness Journal, and other literary publications. His first book, Darwin's Moon, is a memoir of high times and low places. Wending its way through the stories and poems of his latest offering, Last Tango In Timbuktu, is the theme of chance encounters and the strange bedfellows they create. Tim blogs at Catnip and also collaborates on a film review blog with author and Broadway playwright Jill Williams at Timmy's Noodle FilmReviews.

I've just had a look at the film reviews. Very informative (about the stuff you want to know � while avoiding spoilers) and very readable!

Material shared in 'I Wish I'd Written This' is presented for study and review. Poems, photos and other writings remain the property of the copyright owners, usually their authors.