Two poems for Latter-day Saints?

[_Chap]

I have recently read a collection of poems by the British poet Wendy Cope, under the title Family Values.

(See it on Amazon at http://www.amazon.com/Family-Values-Wen ... 639&sr=8-1). It includes two poems that seem to me to be particularly relevant to LDS on this board, if I may judge from what they have posted about their experiences. There are other relevant poems too, like the one where her mother says she would prefer her daughter not to come to the communion service [Church of England term for Sacrament] at all, rather than for her to come and for it to be noticed that she does not take communion. But if you want to see the rest, you will have to pay Ms Cope at least the $7.67 it will cost on Kindle.

Here are the poems - hope you like them:

Differences of Opinion
by Wendy Cope

1. HE TELLS HER

He tells her that the earth is flat-
He knows the facts, and that is that.
In altercations fierce and long
She tries her best to prove him wrong.
But he has learned to argue well.
He calls her arguments unsound
And often asks her not to yell.
She cannot win. He stands his ground.

The planet goes on being round.

2. YOUR MOTHER KNOWS

Your mother knows the earth’s a plane
And, challenged, sheds a martyr’s tear.
God give her strength to bear this pain-
A child who says the world’s a sphere!

Challenged, she sheds a martyr’s tear.
It’s bad to make your mother cry
By telling her the world’s a sphere.
It’s very bad to tell a lie.

It’s bad to make your mother cry.
It’s bad to think your mother odd.
It’s very bad to tell a lie.
All this has been ordained by God.

It’s bad to think your mother odd
The world is round. That’s also true.
All this has been ordained by God.
It’s hard to see what you can do.

The world is round. That must be true.
She’s praying, hoping you will change.
It’s hard to see what you can do.
Already people find you strange.

She’s praying, hoping you will change.
You’re dificult. You don’t fit in.
Already people find you strange.
You know your anger is a sin.

You’re difficult. You don’t fit in.
God give her strength to bear this pain.
You know your anger is a sin.
Your mother know’s the earth’s a plane.

[_Hoops]

You think these poems are directed at the LDS here? Do you have another audience on this board to which these might apply?

[_Chap]

You think these poems are directed at the LDS here? Do you have another audience on this board to which these might apply?

No, I certainly do not think that Wendy Cope wrote these poems with LDS in mind, and I do not think I said anything that implied that. It is probable that, like most people outside the US (and like many inside it), she has only a very hazy idea of the beliefs of the CoJCoLDS, and almost certainly has never knowingly met a Mormon.

The poems I posted, and some others in the book I mentioned, come from her own experience of being brought up by a mother who was a strong believer in the version of Christianity taught by the Church of England (think Episcopalians), and are about her experience of conflict with her mother over her loss of religious belief.

Since the atmosphere of some of the family conflicts she describes seem to mirror closely those reported by ex-Mormons on this board, I thought they might find them interesting and even (because she is quite a clever poet) enjoyable to read.

But of course anyone who can empathize with her experience is free to do so.

[_Hoops]

You wrote relevant. I wrote directed. Along the same path, anyway.

But, ok. A little self-deflection can be a healthy thing.

[_Chap]

Anyway, has anyone read the poems and has an opinion on them as poems recounting a life experience they feel they can recognize?

[_Hoops]

Anyway, has anyone read the poems and has an opinion on them as poems recounting a life experience they feel they can recognize?

I found the poems rather simplistic and superficial. Just not to my taste I guess. Though huge props for putting them out there. I REALLY like that.

[_Morley]

I loved this, Chap. My father thinks I disrespect him because I don't subscribe to his politics or religion. He considers me an immense disappointment and kind of a bad son.

By the way, this title isn't available on the Kindle to those of us in the States.

[_Chap]

I loved this, Chap. My father thinks I disrespect him because I don't subscribe to his politics or religion. He considers me an immense disappointment and kind of a bad son.

By the way, this title isn't available on the Kindle to those of us in the States.

Glad you liked them. I don't know how it works, but finding a good poem about an issue one is facing often seems to make it easier to handle, even if it contains no advice on how to handle it.

[_huckelberry]

"He tells her that the earth is flat-
He knows the facts, and that is that.
In altercations fierce and long"

I find this opening line so rigid and slanted that I find no emotional access to the continuation at all.

As an exmormon I cannot remember any discussion with my believing family members as noncommunicative as this.

Now there is a tendancy for teenagers to view their parents as flatearthers. Have I perhaps forgotten a teenage discussion? I guess that is not impossible.

[_Hoops]

for what it's worth, I love poetry and poets.