Poetic device alert:
The knife below is figurative, not literal.
The knife below is figurative, not literal.
Stand Your Ground
We should never apologise
For doing what is right;
Nor think the time is lost
Spent sleepless in the night.
While some would counsel otherwise,
To step back from a fight,
A line that’s drawn, not to be crossed
Can be firm but still polite.
The bully loves to hold the knife,
To torment and to hound,
But when challenged to an affray
Will blink and then back down.
In the upheavals of daily life,
A truth that I have found
Is the cruel will often step away
Should you choose to stand your ground.
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© J Cosmo Newbery 2013
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provided you, too, have a hidden knife...
ReplyDeleteMmm...the knife was more metaphoric than actual. Might have to rewrite that bit.
DeleteYou've got good points, J.C. But so does Pauline. Sigh!
ReplyDeleteSee good response to Pauline's good point. The counter weapon is to report the behaviour, rather than compliance or avoidance, the two initial possible responses suggested.
DeleteLearning to stand up to others is one of the most important lessons we can learn.
ReplyDeleteAnd that they can learn. And they can learn.
Delete"A line that’s drawn, not to be crossed
ReplyDeleteCan be firm but still polite." - My favourite lines.
Many fights are lost when one chooses to not stand her/his ground. Courage and determination can be as impressive as intimidation. However, face with a bully holding a knife (literally), you might need other weapons besides standard courage and wit.
Well crafted. A pleasure to read.
Thank you.
ReplyDeleteSee above - the knife was figurative, not literal.
How true the words of this poem are. There are lots of cowards around who would run when confronted by someone who chose to stand their ground.
ReplyDeleteSuch perpetrators are all cowards in disguise.
This is a good poem.
Thanks Lee. Many lessons and a few poems came out of it in the end.
DeleteOh yes. And sometimes it seems to take nearly as much courage to stand up to these people as if the knife were literal rather than metaphoric.
ReplyDeleteTrue. It took some soulsearching and lost sleep before taking a stand but there were two outcomes. Firstly, I felt better because I moved from passive to active and secondly, the situation resolved itself very quickly.
DeleteI agree, but still (even knowing this) it can be hard to stand up to a bully. well worth it, but hard.
ReplyDeleteYes. See the answer I just put up to Elephant's Child.
ReplyDeleteI would say that there is a difference between bullying, which I see as systematic, unfounded and perhaps more to do with feelings the bully has which they are trying to avoid or alleviate by picking on someone else, and someone taking a dislike to someone and acting on or expressing those feelings. Some discussion on this would be interesting. Unfounded abuse vs childish meanness perhaps?
ReplyDeleteIsn't childidh meanness bullying?
DeleteThe Australian Human Rights Commission includes the following in their broader definition of bullying:
- excluding you or stopping you from working with people or taking part in activities that relates to your work
- playing mind games, ganging up on you, or other types of psychological harassment
- intimidation (making you feel less important and undervalued)
You sure you weren't just being overly sensitive?
ReplyDeleteNo, there was no imagination about this. The problem, if it is one, was that the lady in question was super sweet to everyone else so that, when I explained to co-workers what was going on, they would say "Who? Her? Surely not?". This makes you question your sanity. But the evidence was there, the effect palpable and it needed to be dealt with, not avoided. Dragged into the daylight, it collapsed spectacularly.
DeleteDid you consider that she may have been too simple to understand that what she was doing was wrong?
DeleteDon't buy that - if she isn't, it is an act of malice; if she is, she needs to learn.
Delete