Mr Nobody is Master of Mayhem

This is one true-blue nursery rhyme that the Ministry of Education people do not know who actually wrote. Why they choose this piece of poem is beyond the comprehension of the man in the street.

Now that the students are saddled with it,let me try to make some sense out of this poem.

So who is this Mr. Nobody? Is he a trouble maker? If so, how does he do his mischief? Or is he some poor chap who is made to be the fall guy for both acts of commission and omission?

Let us look at this poem closely and see whether the poet has given us sufficient clues along the way to implicate Mr. Nobody for all the dastardly acts.

I know a funny little man,
As quiet as a mouse,
Who does the mischief that is done
In everybody’s house!
There’s no one ever sees his face,
And yet we all agree
That every plate we break was cracked
By Mr. Nobody.

‘Tis he who always tears our books,
Who leaves the door ajar,
He pulls the buttons from our shirts,
And scatters pins afar;
That squeaking door will always squeak,
For, prithee, don’t you see,
We leave the oiling to be done
By Mr. Nobody.

He puts damp wood upon the fire,
That kettles cannot boil;
His are the feet that bring in mud,
And all the carpets soil.
The papers always are mislaid,
Who had them last but he?
There’s no one tosses them about
But Mr. Nobody.

The finger marks upon the door
By none of us are made;
We never leave the blinds unclosed,
To let the curtains fade;
The ink we never spill; the boot
That lying round you see
Are not our boots-they all belong
To Mr. Nobody.

There are only 4 stanzas. It is written in the rhythmic form of AB-CB.There is plenty of imagery being used here. This literary device is well used to bring out vividly the nasty things that happens in everyone's house.

Let us look at the context of the poem.

In stanza 1,the poet introduces us to Mr. Nobody. He describes him as a quiet person though he has never seen his face. Mr. Nobody is very mischievous. In everyone's home he has become a mischief-maker.

Let us look at the incidents of mischief caused by Mr. Nobody.

In stanza 2,he was found tearing pages from books. He likes to pull buttons from clothes as well as to scatter pins all over the place. As usual,expect him to open a door and yet to leave them ajar. The worse thing was that he failed to oil the doors when it was his job and as such they squeak!

In stanza 3, we can see that Mr Nobody likes to play tricks. When wood is needed to put on a fire, he will bring in damp woods which will fail to burn. As the water in the kettle could not boil,no one could have hot water to drink.He is also irresponsible walking into the house with his muddy feet that soil the carpets. If newspapers are found mislaid or the pages being tossed around,it was definitely Mr. Nobody's handiwork for he was always the last to read the newspapers.

Mr. Nobody has dirty hands. He carelessly leaves marks on the door.He is also most forgetful as he leaves the blinds unclosed fading the curtains in the process. Then, it was he who spills ink in the house be it on the floor or on the desk. Finally, he is totally irresponsible as well as disorganised;leaving his boots all around the house.

Now that we have blamed Mr. Nobody for acts of commissions, omissions or even things that are in fact due to mother nature,can we identify clearly who this Mr. Nobody is? Is he the Invisible Man?

Mr. Nobody is definitely someone very close to us. It is someone in the house. He is likely a family member. Worse, it could be our-self.So when things go wrong,what is our natural reaction? We like to point fingers at others if we can get away with it.
In the poem,it would certainly be easy to find that someone who left the boots around the house.You cannot avoid being marked as the guilty party unless someone else have used your boots. The same goes for that someone who got into the house with muddy feet that soiled the carpet.

As for the other mayhem around the house,it will be due to our own carelessness if plates gets cracked or pins get scattered. The same goes for forgetting to close the doors or the blinds. Purposely tearing pages from books is a nasty habit we cannot condone and the guilty party must be found and disciplined. Allowing books to be torn is sheer carelessness and reflects our lack of sense of pride of possession.Sense of pride will also prevent us from leaving hand and finger marks on the doors.

Then there are things that naturally comes off because of wear and tear. For instance, buttons that come off from our clothes could be from too much or careless washing and doors will creak if they are not maintained by regular oiling since rust forms naturally on hinges.

As for the case of the damp wood being used to keep the fire burning, it could be sheer carelessness or lack of knowledge. This is pardonable as we can train someone to do things right.

In conclusion, we are Mr. Nobody and Mr. Nobody is Mr. Everybody. We all have obligations and responsibilities and we must do our duties to keep the house in ship-shape. Nothing less will do.

I Wondered,Did You?

Let us try to analyse this new poem which is among the new poems,short stories and drama for Forms 1-3 students beginning 2010.

This is a poem written by Jeannie Kirby.

I Wonder

I wonder why the grass is so green,
And why the wind is never seen?

Who taught the birds to build a nest,
And told the trees to take a rest?

O,when the moon is not quite round
Where can the missing bit be found?

Who lights the stars, when they blow out,
And makes the lightning flash about?

Who paints the rainbow in the sky,
And hangs the fluffy clouds so high?

Why is it now you suppose,
That dad won't tell me, if he knows?

The poem frames a set of questions that a child may ask of his parents. An observant child has a way of interpreting things according to his understanding of things. The manner is at once simple and yet profound.

There are six stanza and each stanza has a couplet.

The questions asked by the child reflect genuine innocence. However, it is clothed in so much active imagery and in a methodological way,seeks answers and meaning to the mystery of nature.

In questioning mode, the child asks about colour, visibility,instinct,heavenly bodies and natural phenomena.

The interesting part of the poem is in the last stanza whereby they child is asking the 'mother-lode' question as to why his parents do not want to tell her the answers to the mysteries of nature. It is a naivety that is expected. After all, many parents would surely be hard-pressed to give correct answers to these simple questions when they themselves may not know after all.

The poem is imaginative,crisp and colourful and is reminiscent of the stage of sweet innocence every child will go through in childhood as they wonder about the world around them.

Wondering Why

Somehow the power to be in the government has decided to water down the quality of the literature component in the PMR Assessment beginning 2010. Gone from the list are the better books such as 'Dalat,The Pencil, Bunga Telor and Bally Shoes,The Phantom of the Opera and Dr Jekyl and Mr. Hyde' and such poems as 'Isle of Innisfree,The Dead Crow and Life's Brief Shadow'. These were better books and poems. The ones that are its replacements sounds more like nursery rhymes and primary school readers. Anyway, the poems are good nursery rhymes.

As for the 2 short stories and the drama, I think they could have been better chosen. 'Rumpelstiltskin' is certainly one bad selection and so is the truncated and convulated, "Flipping Fantastic". The other story,"One is One and All Alone' is somewhat acceptable though they could also have chosen a better short story that will motivate young readers in the lower secondary classes.

So, the question on most of the parents' lips are," Why?". How did the people who are in the know select such books? What are the criteria that have been used in the selection process? These books are such low quality text that are neither motivating nor challenging? Why are the administrators doing English a great disservice? Haven't they done enough harm?

So, can someone from the Curriculum Development Division or the Textbook Department of the Ministry of Education enlightened all the concerned parents?

Are you still playing your Flute?

What are your exact thoughts after reading Zurinah Hassan's poem," Are you still playing your Flute"? Is the persona reminiscing bygone times when there was a lover in a village who filled her heart with music and joy? Is she thinking that even as time passes by, that things have yet to change in the village that could be a disjunct and not in synchronization in time and pace with the rest of the country as it moves forward?

On another level, is it a juxtaposition of an art form onto the cruel realities of a nation in uncertainty of its future? Is it a message being masqueraded as a poem by the poet to reflect his political leanings upon a young nation trying to find its ethos amidst its many layered problems,dimensions and challenges?

Let us look at this poem and flesh out its hidden message,where we can.

Are you still playing your Flute

Are you still playing your flute?
When there is hardly time for our love
I am feeling guilty
To be longing for your song
The melody concealed in the slim hollow of the bamboo
Uncovered by the breath of an artist
Composed by his fingers
Blown by the wind
To the depth of my heart.

Are you still playing your flute?
In the village so quiet and deserted
Amidst the sick rice field
While here it has become a luxury
To spend time watching the rain
Gazing at the evening rays
Collecting dew drops
Or enjoying the fragrance of flowers

Are you still playing your flute?
The more it disturbs my conscience to be thinking of you
in the hazard of you
my younger brothers unemployed and desperate
my people disunited by politics
my friend slaughtered mercilessly
the world is too old and bleeding

All three stanzas started with the same query which is reminiscent of "Isle of Innisfree." It reflects a constant concern-a possible regretful fixation of sorts.

We can also feel the mood of the three stanzas as if the poet is trying to convey to us that she has left the village and have matured out of the innocence of the rural psyche as "The Songs of Experience " of William Blake and she has moved on to something higher while the lover still lives within the blissfulness of the "Songs of Innocence"-footloose and fancy free; living in his own world, happy and undisturbed as he played the evergreen tunes of his flute.

The Green Times in Jamaica

Guango Tree

H.D. Carberry's visually exquisite poem," Nature",was written during those heady years after the 1930s when the winds of nationalism was strong and Jamaica's modem political and labour movements were about to put out shoots.

'Nature' is a poem that reflects self-discovery and self-awareness about Jamaica; put in the best of verse.It delves in things familiar;things we have taken for granted.

Logwood Tree

Let us appreciate the creative flair of H.D. Carberry.

NATURE

We have neither Summer nor Winter
Neither Autumn nor Spring.
We have instead the days
When the gold sun shines on the lush green canefields-
Magnificently.
The days when the rain beats like bullets on the roofs
And there is no sound but the swish of water in the gullies
And trees struggling in the high Jamaica winds.
Also there are the days when leaves fade from off guango trees
And the reaped canefields lie bare and fallow to the sun.
But best of all there are the days when the mango and the logwood blossom
When the bushes are full of the sound of bees and the scent of honey,
When the tall grass sways and shivers to the slightest breath of air,
When the buttercups have paved the earth with yellow stars
And beauty comes suddenly and the rains have gone.

Do not be Lured into Paradise!

This is a great poem from home-schooled Indonesian poetess,Bibsy Soenharjo. Let us interpret and appreciate it.

He Had Such Quiet Eyes

He had such quiet eyes
She did not realise
They were two pools of lies
Layered with thinnest ice
To her, those quiet eyes
Were breathing desolate sighs
Imploring her to be nice
And to render him paradise

If only she'd been wise
And had listened to the advice
Never to compromise
With pleasure-seeking guys
She'd be free from "the hows and whys"

Now here's a bit of advice
Be sure that nice really means nice
Then you'll never be losing at dice
Though you may lose your heart once or twice

We can approach the appreciation of this poem from two levels.

On the first level, on reading this poem, we are confronted by strong seductive language. We are confronted by the seductive nature of lustful love and its basic emotions. We shall not delve on that.

On the second level, we shall interpret the universal values of the poem as it explores the weakness and pitfalls of life for young ladies when they are accosted by men after their youth and bodies.

The poem focuses on the eyes of a man-the window to his soul. How alluring, seductive, dangerous yet quietly imploring are they. The poetess then likened the eyes symbolically,akin the the thinnest ice on a lake in winter. The beauty of the eyes of the man may beckon and you may weaken,but beware,it may be a trap that you will never get out from.Once you get into his trap of thin ice,it will crack and you will go under. By his ruthless nature, he gets what he wants and then leaves you at your own loss, being fooled by your very own feeble nature for a thing that you may physically adore.

So the poetess advises young ladies not to be gullible-to wise up and avoid pleasure-seeking guys and to never be caught in a compromising position which they will eternally regret.

The poetess advises that ladies can be nice to a charming gentleman but they are to keep a distance in space and time until they are more assured that these wooers have gracious thoughts. In parting, Bibsy counsels that the ladies may lose at 'false' love a few times but they should never lose in life when they found that special someone who truly loves them.