Tuesday, November 9, 2010

An excerpt from Will's "An American Spirit" & 52/365



An excerpt from
"An American Spirit"
(middle of Chapter 10 - Of steel, greed, discord, and the rebirth of rebellion
by William R. Bednar

So Jack unto a hill did climb 
With instruments aplenty.
And a song he played to wind and sky
For Revolution's ears to catch, and so would hurry
The old spirit to America again.
Several instruments did Jack try
To reach his far off friend.
The piano, which couldn't cross the sky.
The trumpet, not unique enough.
The Violin too soft.
The guitar though, with its timbre rough,
Its electric pulse that oft
Cried of torture and rebellion
Found Revolution's ear.
The spirit, swift as a stallion,
Came home, and played rock and roll for all to hear.
And filled each adolescent boy,
Each girl who felt she must take a stand,
With strength and noise
To challenge Slavery, the businessman. 


The above is an excerpt from a class assignment he wrote last year (high school, junior year).  It is about Jack of the Tales.  He explained in his end of chapter 1 dialogue:  

"I was reading a comic book series called "Fables", a story about fairytale characters living in modern day New York, when I was stricken by the notion of one character in particular; Jack of the Tales.  I had never before realized how often a character named Jack appears in legends, and horror stories, and movies, what have you.  Take for instance just several manifestations of this "Jack of the Tales"; Jack of the Beanstalk, or Jack the Giant Killer, Jack Frost, Jack Skellington, and Jack Sparrow.  Jack was even an old time nickname for the Devil (which you may find ironic in later chapters).  Upon my musings I realized that America has very few fairytales of its own, and so I set out to write one, and in doing so, created my own version of our Jack; Jack of the Cards.  Cards, dice, luck, and gambling often play a pivotal role in the story, and it is my little game with you, dear reader, a sort of "Where's Waldo", to figure out where these are..."

I would love to be able to share what I consider a really fun "epic poem".  I think that is what it is.  If I get enough interest and Will's approval, I will put the whole thing on my blog in a few posts.  Chelsea, my daughter even doodled some drawings and I could post those as well.

I seem to be on a "kick" lately of highlighting my children's work.  I guess that is what comes from sorting and cleaning out drawers and shelves.  

16 comments:

Tess Kincaid said...

Ah, the businessman. Slavery, indeed. Very insightful piece.

Expat From Hell said...

Wisdom beyond the years. The apple does not fall far from the tree, I guess. Well worth the visit here today, young William. Stay at it! EFH

Will "Never Grow Up" said...

you used the boot picture. oh my. I'd need to edit and finesse it a bit for the full poem to actually be published. And if it is, there will be NO chapter dialogues. I hat them. Also, I wrote the poem not for an assignment, but because I was inspired. The assignment came later...with the "dialogues"

Margaret said...

Will - I do so like the dialogues - it really helped me understand the whole poem AND it gave a nice personal sense. Not everyone has the vast knowledge that you have regarding literature and history... It will take years for you to get to this - I'd love to share it as it is. With a disclaimer - work in progress. And I can mention how you hate the "dialogues". I know you hated the "boot & guitar" photo as I asked you to pose for it, but I didn't want to show "Jacks" face here - I thought the imagery worked. I LOVED Elise at the bottom - I actually think she upstaged you in the "rock n roll" department. LOL Quite the rebel, she is.

Margaret said...

...I can also offer a financial incentive ... LOL And before you get too excited, we will call it "Paying for College, Food & Clothes... and guitar strings"

Margaret said...

...you can put the final, revised, and "no dialogue" version on your blog. deal?

Pitterle Postings said...

Love it!! We all do that with our children. It is called Mother's perogative! I know that I am equally guilty of pointing out all my girls accomplishments (and boys too, they are just not so little anymore). I think that it is wonderful!!

Margaret said...

Patty Ann, Thank you. Let's hope "Mother's prerogative" is influential in allowing me to post his whole epic poem...

Margaret said...

Expat, truly, truly appreciate the praise. And thanks for encouraging him. I would like to see him NOT give up writing.

Linda Roth said...

I wouldn't like to see him give up writing either and I'm not him mom. He's got talent. Of course he's got to let it flow. I thought Elise's finale was just the right "big finish."

What a lovely family you have Margaret, and you're all having such great fun. Nice of you to share.

Margaret said...

LWRoth, yes, Elise is the youngest girl and quite the "independent" one. With six kids, we tend to almost get too busy to just "enjoy". I remember when my oldest 3 were younger and homeschooled - , we read & read and did art work... That is when I home schooled. Sometimes I think I should again, the time spent together is so fun and there is no "wasted" time nor "busy" home work. But, they all want to "go" to school, and that is OK. I will probably home school my youngest son through 3rd grade - but he is only 2 now. Who knows what will happen.

Unknown said...

Very nice! And nice that you are preserving the memories too. :0) Love that second photo! lol

Margaret said...

Lisa, Elise has a great time posing for the camera. It took Will years to learn to not have a cheesy smile - my girls come by posing naturally.

Ruth said...

There's so much to cultivate here, and I think he will, with all these artistic passions he has. How great!

Margaret said...

Ruth, thank you for taking the time to read it. I think Will wants to "cultivate" this huge epic poem before it gets "put out there" - my eagerness & persuasion isn't enough, I think. :)

Linda Bob Grifins Korbetis Hall said...

she seems very cheerful...

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