I have always wondered
- it's been a mystery to me from early -
about all these awesome bright people
but who then turn out not so smart

Well, I thought Science might shed some light
on my dilemma
and after six months' intensive study
I see what it is all about:
*light travels faster than sound
and that is why all these people
who look so bright
don't turn out  so smart
when the words they utter are heard

1
Dear Poet Friend at HP
(I don't know your name, as the name you use at HP is in a typo I can't decipher.)

* I welcome your question and comment as it gives me an opportunity to explore this issue of plagiarism. It will indeed be useful for everyone.

* This is my modus operandi: I take a joke from online and I convert it to poetry. The language is mine; I give the joke a context, even alter its spirit, create characters and by the time I'm finished with it, it is a new and original product.
If I took the words exactly as they are and passed them off as my own, then that is plagiarism. I never do that.
Plagiarism is taking another person's words and phrases and work and passing them off as one's own. That is not what my work is about.

* Take the example of Shakespeare. His "Julius Caesar" is actually based on various sources. So is his "Romeo and Juliet" and other plays like "Othello". Do we charge him with plagiarism ? No, as he has used his own language and puts each material from various sources into his own style. I have taken many jokes and I have put them in poetry, in my own style, in my own narrative. It shows a great lack of understanding of Literature to call that plagiarism.

* You might ask why I do not have a note at the end to indicate the poem is based on a joke found online. I used to do that (see my older poems) and decided for purely aesthetic reasons to keep notes to a minimum.

Kind regards
Raj Arumugam



2
Would it be fine with you if I posted your comment along with my reply as a separate post on my page? It will benefit everyone to consider this issue.
If you are not agreeable to my including your view in such a post, then I will simply post my reply possibly entitled "Reply on being charged with plagiarism".
Thank you

Kind regards
Raj Arumugam

How are writers born? What do they suffer? Do writers have to be famous? Are writers so used by readers and the characters and the stories? Does every writer end up all right?


1
"Sammy baby
You’ve got all these voices
in your head, baby"

"Is that a bad thing, mom?
Is that gonna hurt me, mom?"

2
"No, Sammy baby, cause
You’re a writer baby
You’ve got all these voices in your head
You’re a star baby
and all these people want your hands
They’re screaming to come out
They’re saying:
'Let us out'
cause you’re a writer baby"


2
"They talk to me, mom
They say: 'Please, Sammy –
give us a name;
tell our story'"

“Cause you’re a writer, baby Sammy
and  it doesn’t matter
if you live unknown
and be famous after you die
But you’re a writer
and you do what you must do
Give voice to these people
and all their lives
You may become awkward socially
and grow old to be a recluse
but with ‘em people in your head
and as a writer, you’ll be perfect
My Sammy, baby
cause you’re a writer, baby
I carried you to be a writer
You’re born to be a writer
Sammy baby, Sammy baby"


But sometimes it gets so lonely, mom…they only want to talk when they want; then they leave me alone, unwanted…used…and you’ve left me too, mom…you’re nowhere in the rooms or anywhere…

City Slicker was lost in the bush -
two days without food
and no water
(battery in his smartphone died
so he couldn't google how to survive)
and then he stumbled into a farm
and he found a nice big cow
and he started drinking its milk straight off

But naive City Slicker, he died
How?
*The cow sat down

Software job
80k salary
Potbelly
An apartment plot
with 20 years of loan
Yo yo sounds

Yea, you're a hero
Many a parent claim
Your hand in marriage
For their daughters

And for your parents?
You're a model child

Deviate from it?
Yes you are the parasite :D

1
don't you young
become poets
it may sound romantic and cool
but that's what it is - it sounds
Yeah, it's all about how it sounds

Mom was right:
Better be a dentist -
for though you stare all day into mouths
you'll be agape when you look at your bank accounts
Dad was right:
Better be a surgeon-specialist -
for though you fix areseholes all life-through
your bank account is never a dark hole

And poetry, remember,
they must have told you, doesn't sell;
the Humanities are not for humans;
Writing is for those who can't talk their way up -
so don't aspire to be a poet
dear young ones
for you'll suffer all life
of scarcity of means,
plenty of sneers and want

2
And your husbands will tell you:
I married you cause being a poet
I thought you could moan and oooh and aaah
and make better love than that!
And your wives will scowl:
**** your poetry!
Get me real diamonds and money!

3
So dear young ones
perhaps you want to give up your verse
and turn to medicine or finance
or engineering
and study for dollars instead

*a return on investment
is what you want

I think
therefore
I am single