03-29-2016, 04:00 AM
RN,
Thanks for the read and the comments/ramblings. Although I am afraid I must disagree with most of them, while at the same time I acknowledge some validity in your points, where my point the same as you characterize it.
I wasn't trying to present a case, pro or con, both sides have merit. The man did live through some rough treatment, but in the end did get a job because of that incentive. Then again he was more or less able bodied. They apply the same treatment it seems to the disabled; those who no amount of incentive will push to get a job as they are incapable of working one, or even lack the ability to get to one. So the poem, if you want to call it that, merely presents the situation. The legs cut off is not hyperbole, but a metaphor, stating that even when they try the system seems to do things that oppose them, then tell them to do something that they make nearly impossible. To cut off the last two lines would leave out too much information in my mind. Maybe others will comment on that. It was never my intention to make an emotional appeal for these people, but that could possibly make a good poem for someone to write if they kept it balanced and away from becoming preachy. Each story is different and things are not always as they appear on the surface. The truth is I have little compassion for a man who has been living off of other for seven years, and during that time has not gotten a job, then complains that his "benefits" (a dubious word at best) are being cut in half. So yes a bit of irony thrown in for good measure.
dale
Thanks for the read and the comments/ramblings. Although I am afraid I must disagree with most of them, while at the same time I acknowledge some validity in your points, where my point the same as you characterize it.
I wasn't trying to present a case, pro or con, both sides have merit. The man did live through some rough treatment, but in the end did get a job because of that incentive. Then again he was more or less able bodied. They apply the same treatment it seems to the disabled; those who no amount of incentive will push to get a job as they are incapable of working one, or even lack the ability to get to one. So the poem, if you want to call it that, merely presents the situation. The legs cut off is not hyperbole, but a metaphor, stating that even when they try the system seems to do things that oppose them, then tell them to do something that they make nearly impossible. To cut off the last two lines would leave out too much information in my mind. Maybe others will comment on that. It was never my intention to make an emotional appeal for these people, but that could possibly make a good poem for someone to write if they kept it balanced and away from becoming preachy. Each story is different and things are not always as they appear on the surface. The truth is I have little compassion for a man who has been living off of other for seven years, and during that time has not gotten a job, then complains that his "benefits" (a dubious word at best) are being cut in half. So yes a bit of irony thrown in for good measure.
dale
How long after picking up the brush, the first masterpiece?
The goal is not to obfuscate that which is clear, but make clear that which isn't.
The goal is not to obfuscate that which is clear, but make clear that which isn't.