Imitations Homemade Poem by Lawrence S. Pertillar

Many when young,
Had not been introduced...
To discipline or tasks to complete.
Or taught to listen first.
Before a word was heard,
With it then given permission...
For someone younger,
To speak respectfully.
"No sir and yes ma'am",
Were responses understood.
And the understanding was not a demand.

Well...
Needless to say,
Those days have disappeared.
Nowadays parents are mostly ignored.
When making 'suggestions',
Their children 'should' do chores.
To then hear a child say,
"I ain't got time for that.
Whatever you see that is needed done,
Do yourself.
Or find someone else."

And people today wonder,
Why school teachers are seen...
Handcuffed and escorted,
Away from schools...
By armed police.
Done more to protect the teachers.
Than the unruly, out of control 'kids'.
And the parents who show up to prove,
Who has been responsible...
For many of today's children,
Taught to imitate what their parents do.
With a doing to be disrespectful.

And yet...
Expect their children,
To earn scholarships and be accepted...
In the best Ivy league schools.
Awaiting the entrance of homemade fools!
As if to recruit them,
For a world anticipating their capabilities.