National Adult Literacy Database

September 10, 2007

This week, we have a poem written by a person in Selkirk, Manitoba. The author, Pat Clark, has recently been enrolled in literacy classes at the Selkirk Adult Learning Program.

Complaints Department

by Pat Clark

Storage for extra feedback to help others get on track
Files for letters of disgruntled feelings holding nothing back
A box on table reads: “Personal, of not so polite ‘penful' dialogue”.
A can designated for attitude adjustments and verbal garbage best left unsaid.
A place that harms not heals, each word a degree of death.
Each home, business, place of worship houses a spot for this moral compass.
Be careful that it's not “the blind leading the blind”.
Advice given in haste and anger usually isn't fruitful.
“Look before you leap” to write out your discord.
Words spoken softly can break a bone of contention.
Once the ink dries so does one's resolve.
Chances that improvements will occur are nil or not.
So “live and let live” and smile a lot.

[This poem was taken with permission, from Write On!, Spring/Summer 2006, published by LPM.]