Rumours

Gideon · Post by **Gideon** » Thu Mar 17, 2005 12:10 am

RUMOURS

Rumour has it you were born in China,
Too tall to be a doll,
Too cool to be a cracker.
If there is a Chink in your armour
I did not put him there.

Rumour has it you once lived in France,
The lessons that you taught
Were all to do with kissing.
If there is a Frog in your throat
He learned his lesson well.

Rumour has it you now live in Japan,
Developing a yen
For the tea ceremony.
If there is a Nip in the air
Wear a warm kimono.

Rumour has it you will come to England,
And eat beef and two veg
In an English country garden.
You’ll be the apple of my eye,
A rose among the Pommes.

Rumour has it.

LaurieAK · Post by **LaurieAK** » Thu Mar 17, 2005 12:34 am

Gideon~

Clever word associations.

But i cannot get past the derogatory terms you used without providing some sort of redemption as to their 'poetic license.'

L

linda_lakeside · Post by **linda_lakeside** » Thu Mar 17, 2005 1:02 am

Thank you, Laurie. I wanted to comment on this poem as well, but didn't know how. I never do. Despite its deragatory inferences, I'll stick with my usual lamesque response of I really like it.

Linda.

Teratogen · Post by **Teratogen** » Thu Mar 17, 2005 10:31 am

yes yes, i agree with laurie. "eat beef and two veg," haha. good stuff. great poem, gideon.

Critic2 · Post by **Critic2** » Thu Mar 17, 2005 11:53 am

I am not keen on the poem and certainly not keen on the race stuff. oth a chinese barrister here used to address the jury every time with some comment about chink in the armour. what a shame he has retired now. it's actually not because the terms are especially offensive, Gideon, it's just the writing itself is all so predictable. sorry. I wonder if you want to try another piece feeding of the "rumour has it" line which itself is pretty promising.

From time to time we have poetry competitions here. "Rumour has it" woulld be a great topic!

LaurieAK · Post by **LaurieAK** » Thu Mar 17, 2005 12:15 pm

Clever word associations.

But i cannot get past the derogatory terms you used without providing some sort of redemption as to their 'poetic license.'

I can see how this could be misinterpreted.

My intent was to highlight the BUT comment. Although, yes the writer made some clever "word associations" I can't get past the racisism. Period. This leaves me NOT caring too much for the thing because of this inherent ugliness.

If the writer had used these terms as an irony to highlight their 'political incorrectness' then it would have been different (a translation of my previous "redemption" comment above).

regards,
L

Perth · Post by **Perth** » Thu Mar 17, 2005 12:31 pm

I like this one!

LaurieAK · Post by **LaurieAK** » Thu Mar 17, 2005 12:48 pm

Dear Perth, of course you do.

tom.d.stiller · Post by **tom.d.stiller** » Thu Mar 17, 2005 2:57 pm

Rumour has it British beef is safe.

This writer has his doubts.

Laurie, I agree.

Cheers
tom

Anne-Marie · Post by **Anne-Marie** » Fri Mar 18, 2005 12:55 am

Funny in an ugly sort of way...

linda_lakeside · Post by **linda_lakeside** » Fri Mar 18, 2005 3:08 am

I don't consider this poem racist. The word play is connected with phrases that we've all heard. I don't think this is a case of 'hate mongering'. I thought that 'art' and poems are 'art' was a place for expression. Free expression. I think it's a good poem because of the word associations. They will be viewed as racist by some, I can understand that. However, I just don't agree. I think the whole concept of 'policital correctedness' sometimes goes too far. We've all heard things like changing the names of 'manhole covers'. I don't see this as being all that much different.

There was a long court case in Canada not long ago on the subject of free speech vs hate mongering. I think this is of the former.

Linda.

LaurieAK · Post by **LaurieAK** » Fri Mar 18, 2005 4:14 am

HI Linda~

I would not deny anyone their free speech. And don't here.

My opinion is that using derogatory words like:

chink
nip
frog

is no less insulting had the author also found a fun and clever way to use the *N* word too.

The author made a point of capitalizing the first letter of the 'offending' words. Making sure if the readers did not 'get' the unsavory meaning within the known "phrases" the capitalization would point it out.

All just my interpretation.

Appreciate yours.

regards,
L

linda_lakeside · Post by **linda_lakeside** » Fri Mar 18, 2005 5:28 am

Now, isn't this dignified? We'll simply agree to disagree and walk away...

On other matters, we agree.

See you,
Linda.

LaurieAK · Post by **LaurieAK** » Fri Mar 18, 2005 5:46 am

But Linda~ i was looking for a good olde fashioned cat fight!!

(not)

agreed.
L

Gideon · Post by **Gideon** » Sun Mar 20, 2005 9:53 pm

I am new to all this and didn't realise that posting a song and a poem would lead to such vitriol!
On reflection I should not have capitalised the initial letters of the 'derogatory' words but it was not something of which I consciously thought. I really just meant to comment, in a jokey way, on how certain slang words for nationalities also have different meanings.
I note that no-one objected to 'Pommes' but I suppose the English are fair game.
Sorry if I upset anyone.