Wednesday 29 February 2012

The Tutor

Not so deep
inside his psyche
exists the  
frightened little man;
defences up
he walls him in;
ego inflated.

Square, angular
'Chiselled from some
metamorphic rock'
(he muses)
jaw juts forward;
he gives emphasis
to every uttered word,
each morsel offered
as a tasty crumb
of wisdom
to be shared
vainglorious.

His students wait,
impatient
as he pauses yet again,
sits,
adopts his Rodin pose,
his thinking stance,
scratches
at his salt and pepper head,
dandruff flakes extracted,
he rolls twixt thumb and finger,
creates tiny oily balls,
flicks into waiting pocket
lest they contain
some random thought,
some stroke of genius
leached out,
secreted accidentally.

Class done,
'Young minds broadened'
(he muses)
he wanders
head bowed, shoulders slouched
as if carrying the burden
of his intellect
(self-perceived),
hands firmly clasped
behind waiting back,
through corridor and cloister.

The young ones,
see through his affect,
his pseudo-intellect
and titter ignominiously. 
He flinches,
hurt
and not so deep inside
his psyche
exists the
frightened little man,
defences down,
wall tumbled,
ego deflated.

Anna :o]

(Please note that the above is not an attack on the teaching profession only memories of one particular tutor!)

Thanks to the good folk at Open Link Night ~ Week 33 (hosted and posted by Hedgewitch) at dVerse Poets Pub.

17 comments:

Claudia said...

haha..he reminds me of some of my teachers...i have a very ambivalent relationship with them...there was a time when they almost threw me out of school...ugh... my daughter is just about to become a teacher and i always tell her...do it better..do it better.... nice details in this..enjoyed..

Brian Miller said...

i feel kinda sad for the guy but not really...when we put ourselves on the pedestal the fall will surely hurt....you know now its his choice to take it to heart or...

tried several times to leave a comment today but word verification kept getting in the way...it does not show on all computers so you can not post comments

Unknown said...

great detailing! overall nice write :)

Beth Winter said...

Oh, I know him! All too well! Isn't it astounding how that assumed air of superiority that becomes the teacher's true belief of himself is the one thing that holds him away from others. Well done.

hyperCRYPTICal said...

Thanks for your kind comments folks.

This little offering is based on my tutor during nurse training. OMG he did irritate me and that said very few people do or have done.

He really did do the dandruff thing!

Our dislike of each other was open and mutual. So - it makes me wonder if I have irritating habits or was he irritated with me as I saw through him?

Anna :o]

Luke Prater said...

I think we ALL know him... strong in the descriptive passages here

James Rainsford said...

Brilliantly constructed with great economy of language.

Arron Shilling said...

hi anna - this made me think :)
those that cant do teach... at least yhis is what i tell my students ;)

Manicddaily said...

Oh dear! I actually like academics but there can be some pretty bloated egos, especially in the higher reaches of academia. Well-expressed--one typo, if you don't mind, I think you want it to be "his students" wait, without apostrophe.

Take care, k.

hyperCRYPTICal said...

Luke and James ~ thanks for your welcome comments!

Aaron ~ don’t believe the ‘those who can do, those who can’t teach’ thing! The little poem was about one particular tutor and not all teachers in general.

K ~ I like academics too – as said poem about my old tutor who for some reason stays constant in my memory banks – maybe because he was the first person I have ever actively disliked?

Thanks for pointing out the typo – will correct it now!

Anna :o]

Hold my hand: a social worker's blog said...

I think I know his twin! hahaha That's a great poem!

Doris

mrs mediocrity said...

oh, i think we all have had at least one teacher like this! really nice flow and love the sardonic tones...

hyperCRYPTICal said...

Thanks for your kind commets Doris and mrs mediocrity.

Anna :o]

Dave King said...

A masterful piece. I really like this, was simply swept along by it.

hyperCRYPTICal said...

Thank you so much Dave.

Anna :o]

Ursula in Aus said...

Love it!

This was one of my high-school science teachers; he actually foamed at the mouth when he spoke! Pupils had so little respect for him, they scuttled desks around the room when he was writing on the board.

Sad, really.

hyperCRYPTICal said...

Thank you for your welcome response Ursula.

Anna :o]