The Nuns

[DATo]

The Nuns

by

DATo

I dedicate this poem to all the nuns I knew in my youth ; whose dedication to my intellectual and moral development made my life a living hell.

See the school yard of the nuns - happy nuns.
What a sight of joyful merriment to which all fear succumbs !
The children are all squealing
Their delight is most appealing
To my mother now revealing -
"I will stay, stay, stay, until my dying day.
I'm enraptured by the bounty of emancipated fun,
With the nuns, nuns, nuns, nuns, nuns, nuns, nuns,
And the smiling happy faces of the nuns."

Hear the school bell of the nuns - austere nuns.
What a scene of metamorphosis upon the school yard comes !
All the children have stopped playing
All their actions now displaying
Resignation and behaving
As they march, march, march, beneath a gothic arch
Which demarcates the light of day from vision by the torch.
Now I run, run, run, what else could I have done ?
Only to get whacked across the back and dropped upon my bum
By a nun, nun, nun, nun, nun, nun, nun,
By a black enormous raven called a nun.

View the classrooms of the nuns - efficient nuns.
Sense the iron determination of their sole purpose 'neath the sun.
As I stumble to my seat
I look for avenues of retreat
Like a prisoner to the rock pile with a ball chained to his feet.
As I cry, cry, cry
I lift my childish eyes
To a spectacle of horror
Instilling in my breast new terror
For on the front wall o're the border
Is a man, man, man
With a nail clear through each hand
And one more through his feet
I rise up from my seat
In a slow, dazed, wide eyed silence, now gazing with a pause
On the tiny shrunken figure in his undies on a cross.
Then I scream, scream, scream, in my panic for it seems
If they can do this to a grown up man they'll do far worse to me.
I start to pee, pee, pee, I can't control it don't you see,
For I'm struck with holy terror by a sight which all- benumbs
For converging now upon me are the nuns, nuns, nuns -
A full battalion comes.
I am snarling in the corner baring nails and teeth and gums
At the nuns, nuns, nuns, nuns, nuns, nuns, nuns,
At the Green Berets of St. Renee's the nuns.

See my mother with the nuns - consoling nuns.
They speak to her of options for her maladjusted son.
I am taken to a room
To be slaughtered, I assume
But the nuns are smiling once again and hope dispels my gloom.
A lady enters now
"A CIVILIAN , HOLY COW ! SHE MUST HAVE FLUNKED HER NUN EXAM ".
( my mother feels my brow )
But the lady smiles so sweetly
That my fears depart completely
She announces "I'm Miss Wheatly."
"I WILL STAY, STAY, STAY WITH MISS WHEATLY " now I bray
" I will stay a day and then I may stay yet another day."

As the silent nuns depart
I turn my back to them and fart
It's the only farewell to them that it suits me to impart.
I kiss mama goodbye
As she wipes her tearful eyes,
As she leaves I hear her sigh,
" What has he done, done, done
Of all my impish sons
I'd never say I'd see the day when one would bite a nun
Bite a nun, nun, nun, nun, nun, nun, nun,
The poor devoted creature, the poor nun. "

As the children straggle in
I can't hear above the din
A girl is throwing things and screaming
A boy is pricking her with a pin.
One is doing somersaults and landing on his head
Anothers lying on the floor I think that he is dead.
Miss Wheatly smiling all the while calmly starts the task
Of restoring order to the place "What is this place ?" I ask.
"Why don't you know, its the Special Room "
She says with painted smile.
My hands are cold and clammy in my mouth I taste the bile.
"LET ME OUT OUT OUT OF THE 'CRAZY ROOM' " I shout,
"I'NE NOT HALF AS CRAZY AS THE NUNS AND THEY LET {{{THEM}}} MOVE ABOUT!!!"
The boy upon the floor now begins to snore
Another child is going wild and beating on the door.
"You're a whore, whore, whore,- Miss Wheatly you're a whore !
I don't know what a whore is but you are one ten times more !
For you smiled at me so sweetly and you tricked me oh so neatly
And you fooled me so completely and ..."
But Wheatly proves unmoving;
Her smile shows no reproving;
And in a voice that's almost soothing ...
"You will take your seat or your little butt I'll beat.
I've seen the likes of worse than you I've never known defeat.
In my family tree there runs a branch back to the Huns
And if I weren't pretty they would have let me join the nuns.
Join the nuns, nuns, nuns, nuns, nuns, nuns, nuns.
Oh how I yearn to be all I can be - a nun !"

See the convent of the nuns - dreadful nuns.
What a sense of welling terror o'er my childlike psyche comes
As we pass before their door
I feel my heart will beat no more
Till I pass beneath it's shadows like a rabbit 'neath the guns
Of the nuns, nuns, nuns, -
To mother, "LET US RUN !!!
I'VE BEEN LOOKING OVER MY SHOULDER AND I THOUGHT I SAW SOME NUNS"
Everywhere they go but they leave no tracks in snow
For they float above the ground with anti-gravity you know !
As we make our way back home I make plans to leave for Nome
Or to other places on the earth where nuns are yet unknown.
I think on distant suns where impaired machinery hums
They manufacture without warranty
The nuns, nuns, nuns, nuns, nuns, nuns, nuns,
Non-returnable, unforgettable ... nuns.


/

[teacher_jane1]

Do you like Poe? Nice work playing with "Bells."

[DATo]

Do you like Poe? Nice work playing with "Bells."

YOU NOTICED !!! *LOL*

Yes, it is a blatant rip off of Poe's meter in The Bells. If you ever went to a Catholic school and were taught by nuns the comparisons with Poe's poem become even more evident *L*

[ReyvrexQuestor Reyes]

Splendid take on Poe's format. The similitude is very evident.

But oh, don't get too hard on the nuns.

[DATo]

Splendid take on Poe's format. The similitude is very evident.

But oh, don't get too hard on the nuns.

@ReyvrexQuestor Reyes

You're right. Actually, I wrote two of them letters many years later to thank them for all they did for me. They were great educators as well as disciplinarians. I had the forbearance to refrain from sending them a copy of my poem however. Certainly I would be embarrassed to have them read it, but the real reason was a very visceral horror of what they might do to me. I could imagine my face looking like a Picasso painting.

[Caleb001]

So great

[meteku4]

I love the presence of various literary devices.

[Njengnjoro]

I like the different elements here, good job.