Greta Thunberg gives her "blah, blah, blah" speech‘To Speak Unique’: A Poem by Caroline Chen The Society October 1, 2024 Culture, High School Submissions, Poetry 3 Comments . To Speak Unique From youth we have been urged to stay unique. For boxed-in meetings, we must always be The ones outside the box, must always speak On obscure points. The price of novelty? Discussing common issues we all face, Only to hear the boos, the jeers, the sneers Of people told too often to debase Conventional beliefs, stigmatic fears, Which by recurring, seem mere platitude. But who will learn and who will take the cue? If only innovation is pursued, Righting past troubles might be overdue. Exhausting fresh objectives after all, To cycle back to old points we recall. . . Caroline Chen is a 14-year-old writer from Irvine, California. She is a winner of the national Maria W. Faust Sonnet Contest. Her fiction will soon be published by Vine Leaf Press. NOTE TO READERS: If you enjoyed this poem or other content, please consider making a donation to the Society of Classical Poets. The Society of Classical Poets does not endorse any views expressed in individual poems or commentary. CODEC Stories:Share this:Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)Click to print (Opens in new window)Click to share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window)Click to share on WhatsApp (Opens in new window)Click to email a link to a friend (Opens in new window)Click to share on Pinterest (Opens in new window) 3 Responses Joseph S. Salemi October 1, 2024 This is a commendable sonnet from someone so young. There might be a little vagueness in the argument, but the meter is perfectly fine. Evan’s choice of the picture of the Little Swedish Meatball was inspired. There’s a girl who pretends to be unique and outstanding, but who is simply a mouthpiece for globalist platitudes about the environment. Reply Russel Winick October 1, 2024 Love it! Keep writing Caroline – you’ve got a gift! Reply Paul A. Freeman October 2, 2024 I like your style, Caroline. The poem can be read a number of ways on a number of current and past issues. Winston Churchill was a unique orator, much jeered and ridiculed during the early days of WW2, and still gets a bad rap in some quarters. I found the line ‘Righting past troubles might be overdue’, very poignant. May I suggest you think about using ‘recurrence’ instead of ‘recurring’? Somehow it sounded better to my ear – but then, that’s just me. Excellent sonnet, thanks for the read. Reply Leave a Reply Cancel ReplyYour email address will not be published.CommentName* Email* Website Captcha loading...In order to pass the CAPTCHA please enable JavaScript. Notify me of follow-up comments by email. Notify me of new posts by email. Δ This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.
Joseph S. Salemi October 1, 2024 This is a commendable sonnet from someone so young. There might be a little vagueness in the argument, but the meter is perfectly fine. Evan’s choice of the picture of the Little Swedish Meatball was inspired. There’s a girl who pretends to be unique and outstanding, but who is simply a mouthpiece for globalist platitudes about the environment. Reply
Paul A. Freeman October 2, 2024 I like your style, Caroline. The poem can be read a number of ways on a number of current and past issues. Winston Churchill was a unique orator, much jeered and ridiculed during the early days of WW2, and still gets a bad rap in some quarters. I found the line ‘Righting past troubles might be overdue’, very poignant. May I suggest you think about using ‘recurrence’ instead of ‘recurring’? Somehow it sounded better to my ear – but then, that’s just me. Excellent sonnet, thanks for the read. Reply
