Tag Archives: poem about teenagers

Generational Angst

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Generational Angst

She could not quench her anger over all the agitation
caused by her father’s ire, or her mother’s castigation.
Their home life was a parody of what a life should be.
They were a group of separate “I’s.” There was no “us” or “we.”

He surveyed his daughter mainly from afar.
The only time she deigned to talk was to usurp the car.
She was so disrespectful he could barely hold his tongue.
Why was it so difficult to converse with the young?

She’d thought she’d have a daughter to fuss over and dress.
but when it came to this one, she was driven to confess,
her daughter lately gave no sign that she had once adored her.
Rather, all the indications were that she abhorred her.

Her mother dressed in mom jeans and her dad tucked in his shirts.
Then looked askance when she appeared in bandeaus and short skirts.
When they tried to speak her language, it only caused distress.
TBH, they had not a clue, and she could not care less.

This is the modern family. The parents sorely vexed.
The daughter is embarrassed, her mom and dad perplexed.
Why can they not communicate? Where is the veneration
that seems to be missing in this modern generation?

Parents cannot understand because they don’t recall
all of the resentment, embarrassment and gall
that they once felt for parents back when they were teens.
This disdain from their daughter was passed down in their genes.

This too shall pass, I’d like to say. Give it a little time.
The year will come when being parents will not be a crime.
Her growing up and having kids will be the end of it.
You’ll be her heroes once again when you can baby sit!

 

Words of the day are quench, parody and castigation.

It seems that Daily Addictions is no longer publishing prompts, so if someone knows of a daily word prompt not given below, please leave a comment for me in this post with a permanent link to that prompt. (One that will work everyday)

Here are today’s links:
https://ragtagcommunity.wordpress.com/2018/11/12/rdp-monday-quench/
https://fivedotoh.com/2018/11/12/fowc-with-fandango-parody/
https://wordofthedaychallenge.wordpress.com/2018/11/12/castigation/

Adolescence

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1960, Murdo, South Dakota

1960, Murdo grade school’s 7th and 8th grade, first boy-girl party in the unfinished basement of our “new” house.  I’m the tallest girl in the 8th grade, dancing with the shortest boy in the 7th grade. I have on two different dresses in these photos taken on the same night.  I ripped the side seam out of the first one trying to duck under someone’s arm during the first dance.  I had to go change into one of my older sister’s dresses. Click on photos to enlarge.

Adolescence

Awkward pauses, awkward poses.
Awkward stances, offering roses.
Teens are natural at this.
First date, first crush, first awkward kiss.

Stumbling to stand like newborn colt,
One day suave, just now a dolt.
All creatures need to learn to be
what they’ll be one day effortlessly.

We learn our lessons through mistakes—
missed swings at balls and fallen cakes.
There’ll be missteps. That die is cast,
but adolescence does not last.

I’ve used this photo before, but the poem is new. The prompt today is awkward.

Gremlins (A Teenage Mythology)

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Of course none of these teens, who happen to be my nieces and nephew, would ever sneak in after hours!

A Teenage Mythology

A sneeze is how a poltergeist gets outside of you.
At night a different stinky elf sleeps inside each shoe.

Every creaking rafter supports its resident ghost,
and it’s little gremlins who make you burn the toast.

Each night those tricky fairies put snarls in your hair,
while pixies in your sock drawer unsort every pair.

Midnight curtain billows are caused by banshee whistles.
Vampires use your toothbrush and put cooties in its bristles.

Truths all come in singles. It’s lies that come in pairs.
That’s a zombie, not a teenager, sneaking up the stairs.

 

 

Gremlins is the prompt word today. This is a rewrite of a poem written 4 years ago.  Can’t believe that I actually had a poem with “gremlins” in it.  Glad the WordPress search function
has a better memory than I do.

Hometown Boys

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Hometown Boys

I never knew the simple joys
of going out with hometown boys.
For me, romance was never focal
on a male who was a local.
The smart ones just aimed to debate me
but seemed to have no yen to date me;
while the ones who asked were way too slow.
Why this was, I do not know.

I may have been too brash and vocal
for any hometown country yokel,
so when I finally tied one down,
he was a boy from out of town.
Sweet Sixteen and never been kissed,
romance was something I had missed;
but we made up for lost time
with remedial work that was sublime.

So it is, I am confessing,
that mobility’s a blessing.
If what you need’s not where you are,
then I suggest you use a car.
If you cannot shop at home,
it may be necessary to roam.
Free trade’s not just for clothes and toys.
It also works for teenage boys.

 

 

The prompt today is local.

Generational Drift

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Generational Drift

It’s a symptom of their stage of life,
a product of their age.
Adolescents have to disagree
and posture, pout and rage.

That teenage chemical is now
rampaging through each vein,
bringing self-doubt, embarrassment,
confusion and disdain.

Nothing so discomforting
as advice of a parent.
Teens crave emancipation,
but go through with it? They daren’t.

They may neglect their family time
in favor of their friends.
The list of what is wrong with you?
Somehow it never ends.

If you could just dress better,
they might find it easier to
admit you were their parents
when they run into you.

But as it is they meet your eye,
their own eyes simply narrowing.
They walk by like a stranger.
To address you would be harrowing.

You rip your jeans and cut your hair
so it looks freshly tumbled,
but you cannot please them.
If you try, you will be humbled.

“Gross,” they’ll say, “You’re not a kid,
so why attempt to be one?”
But if you keep your present look,
they’ll say that you are no fun.

How can one be as old as you
and not know anything?
For their advice, they’ll go online
to consult the I Ching.

Ouiji boards and seances
bring advice from the past.
It seems words really ancient
contain more of a blast.

So parents, do not anguish
if you can’t reach your at-hand kids,
Just wait ’til you have passed away
and talk to your great-grandkids!

The prompt today is symptom.

Restraint

14 Replies

IMG_7450

Restraint

Lovely one, you wink and tease.
You posture there as if to please.
And though you simply play a game,
thinking the world yours to tame,

there are animals who stalk
pretty girls with pretty talk.
Take care to guard what’s precious to you,
for there are those bent to undo you.

Have your fun.  Enjoy their stares,
but travel safely, and in pairs.
For lovely young ones, fair of face,
the world can be a dangerous place.

Maybe someday, but not now?
Too young to take that sacred vow?
Saving it for someone rare?
We cannot tell by what you wear.

Your clothes so tight, your skin so bare,
you seem to beg the world’s rude stare.
You are a plum—sweet and inviting
and there are those intent on biting.

So take heed. Protect yourself.
You are not goods set on a shelf—
a tasty morsel, a pint of booze
for anyone to pick and use.

You are a vintage sweet and rare—
smart and funny, grown with care.
Value your worth and care for it.
Wait for that match you know will fit.

Things need not happen quite so fast.
Try to hold out for what will last.
So when that stranger whispers,”Baby.”
instead of “Yes,” why not try,”Maybe.”

 

The prompt today was “Maybe.”