Dress Code

Complaining and declining

looking for a silver lining

but it seems that my perfect timing

is off by a few years. Rhyming

used to come so very easy

and I took it easy-peasy

but I got more and more cheesy

and I started to lose that breezy

flow that once characterized me

while all my enemies sized me.

They were scared of me, chastised me

with a different view. They advised me

to give up on my dream and goal

and go dig myself a big hole

where I could fit my ego

but I just took a long stroll

and figured it was worthless.

The advice came from a bunch of mirthless

rich fools who thought they were fine

and so important. Their divine

attitude got on my nerves quick

and sometimes I felt like a brick

was being smashed into my head. Stick

it up there where the sun don't shine

because I'm sick of the authoritative whine.

They complain and complain about what I do.

"You don't have the right shirt, you don't have the right shoe.

What on earth are we to say, how on earth can we prove

that we will punish you if of what you wear we do not approve."

It gets into my head, really, all of these rules.

Maybe I'm just another teenager with a lack of tools

and a lack of vocabulary to express my thoughts.

To be honest, though, everything that is truly taught

is biased in one way or another, and it's kind of insane

how every single freaking day they grab onto my mane

like I am a horse or something, like I am a dog or cat

but instead of using words to talk, they just grab a big bat.

Peace by force is the force of peace

but the force they use makes me decrease

my patience, power, pardon me

if I start rhyming a little crazy.

But I'm sick of it, so lickety-split

I'm splitting out of this sickening s**t.

Dress codes, codes that are dressed up to look sharp.

Every time I walk in the door, a teacher will harp,

berating my clothes, berating my hair

and filling with words the purified air.

How on earth am I supposed to not lose

when I have no freedom, no choice to choose?

But the real question is, how do we decode

the real meaning behind all these stupid dress codes?

Author's Note

Going to a private school where one family owns practically everything. Feels like a dictatorship...with dictators setting the dress codes, so like prison? Yeah, prison.

Reviews

[A Lonely Girl]

LOL dress codes! Love the topic. I found this to be funny even if it wasn't intended to be. I really really liked a few of your lines, such as "peace by force is the force of peace". This sounds like it could be a song, the rhythm of it is catchy! Well done, and thanks for giving me a chuckle :)

[Not here]

no problem :) thanks for reviewing

[flickering candle]

i spent 5 years in a private school a lot like yours. Definitely a prison. You portray the same tormented and sickened emotions that so many students in those schools feel. Great!

[Not here]

thank you :) glad you can relate

[Jacklyn]

Haha you rhyme much better than I can, kudos to you ;P Though I don't exactly agree with your stance, you tell your side masterfully, so full points. :)

[Not here]

thank you :) and i dont always agree wtih me either

[Marcel Grant]

I liked the rhyming and the choice of words for the poem. As the for the subject matter, I can totally see your point of view on it for its strictness and the unfairness of people getting away with ANYTHING while you get in trouble. That happens all the time and it sucks.

But on the flip side, some of those regulations for dress codes and other rules are a good thing... =/ So I can't say I completely agree you, but regardless the poem as always, was good, loud and honest. Nice job!

[Not here]

yeah i understand i dont always agree with me either. im very bipolar.

[Rudi J.P. Lejaeghere]

Good poem, Dante. I like the flow of the poem and the rhythm, it's almost a rap song when you read it and the form without stanzas made it sound like that. I'm not very fond of dress codes and uniforms either. Very well done. :) Rudi

[Coyote Poetry]

Took me on a real road trip in thoughts and open a door to a wide open subject.
"How on earth am I supposed to not lose
when I have no freedom, no choice to choose?
But the real question is, how do we decode
the real meaning behind all these stupid dress codes?"
I came from the lowest part of Detroit and the Army saved me in 1976. Some people are locked-in with dead-ends. Many answers. Cost money and caring people. Better to buy new guns than to ensure all people have a chance at education and opportunity. I liked the poem. Best poetry make the reader think and react. The poem did. Thank you for sharing the excellent poetry.
Coyote

[Not here]

thank you coyote :) im glad it made you think back and understand

[Coyote Poetry]

I did and you are welcome.

[Willard Wells]

From the beginning of time somebody wore the wrong thing. Well lucky for you, you will grow and be in charge of your own life, Oh wait you want a job, well there come those codes again. Great piece I liked it. Old story of youth against the establishment. You have the words and voice of a protestor. Have fun and enjoy it to the fullest you can. Nice work.

[Not here]

yeah im normally not that upset about the dress code, and i really wouldnt mind except they decide to change it all the time and i get in trouble for breaking rules that everyone breaks but doesnt get in trouble for.

[Willard Wells]

Now if you step back and look at everything, can you say that you did not feel you were close to the edge on what you wore and what they excepted. The rebel in you . LOL

[JayceeC]

LOL David, changing monikers through me for a minute. Not sure teachers like dress codes any more than anyone else. Of course I'm at a public school so if my students show up ready to actually learn something, I'm happy. Rant in rhyme...here is what I think...you've already loosened the style a bit from the first one of yours I read...That one the rhyme was so tight a rhyming dictionary would have been jealous. As you mature as a writer, that need to use rhyme as your primary driver will lessen and your poetry will open up, if you want it to. Your poems always remind me of a freestyle rapper gone amok. That is neither good nor bad, it's just a style and a taste. So yours is the flavor of youth, not us ancients, and comments will reflect that. I know that some really enjoyed work of yours that I was begging you to edit.
Just find your target audience in your writing and focus there, or write and let your audience find you..either will work for you.
As for the school..term should be almost over, everybody is ready for it. I think most students feel that way about school. I did when I was in high school and where did I end up...back at high school. there's irony for you. Unless you consider that my degrees are in Psychology with an English minor, I'm a writer and I teach mathematics...go figure!

[dan]

david, This write, like so many of your others, has a quality of sameness surrounding the words, feeling like this is just an extension of your last one. You should try changing up your format somewhat, try some different rhyme schemes. Please don't be offended, but others may wish to refer to you as a one-trick pony. Your stories seem to be a nice departure. take care...dan

[Not here]

i understand dan, and i dont take any offense. ive been a little stressed and messed up lately, and when i get my head on straight i will try some new things.

[ANTO]

Jeez - that doesnt sound like an ideal place to get an education - there's enough pressure without that kind of extra burden.
I really liked this -
"Every time I walk in the door, a teacher will harp,
berating my clothes, berating my hair
and filling with words the purified air." - great turn of phrase - I love that word 'harp' as used here Dante. Very cool my friend.

[Not here]

thanks :) im glad you liked it, and i definitely feel the same way, but life is life. 4 more years and ill get out