Words and Pictures Page #4

"clear but for these tiny

markings like the steps of birds.

"Come now.

"This is the trough of the wave,

"the seconds after lightning.

"Thin slice of silence

as music ends,

"the freeze before melting.

"Lie down beside me.

"Make angels.

"Make devils.

"Make who you are."

So you see? This poem is an

invitation to the reader...

To lie down in the snow.

To reveal himself or herself,

and that's what you'll do,

not with words, but with

a drawing or a painting

that shows us what you feel,

what you see as you

read this poem, okay?

Ooh! Sorry, Mr. Marc!

All right. Bring it.

Tackle him, guys.

Get him!

Dribble all the way!

Nice one!

He's holding!

Come on, Mr. Marc, get up!

Get up, old man!

He's really cute.

I mean, like, look at him.

We love you, Mr. Marc!

Ah!

Hey, Roy, you know where

"mayonnaise" comes from?

The word.

The French army, after

conquering the city of Mahn,

had their cook create a new

sauce in honor of the victory.

Mahn-aise.

By the way, you got

some on your lip.

And, Ellen, the word avocado

is actually an Aztec word.

Mm.

It means testicle.

True story.

Are you having another war?

He's, uh, Iago.

He's after my job,

and she's his Lady Macbeth,

and I know I'm mixing up my

Shakespeare, but I'm tired.

You actually spoke to me.

I want to talk to you

about your magazine.

I'm having my students draw

their reactions to your poem,

and some are already finished.

The work is very good.

And is the poem good?

Yes.

And did you draw one?

I'm talking about my class.

You did one, too, didn't you?

I want you to include the three

best works in your magazine.

No.

You'll have to put them

in the art magazine.

There is no art magazine.

Exactly.

Why not include artwork?

Because a poem doesn't

need a picture.

If you could capture a

poem with a picture,

there'd be no need for the poem.

Need? Oh.

Need.

You're being awfully

precious about the poem.

Do we need your poetry?

All we need is food and

shelter and air and sex.

The rest is optional.

Words are optional.

Yes, but you're using

them now, aren't you?

Because you need to communicate.

Even the most basic cave

societies needed to communicate.

Yes, hence the cave paintings.

Paintings before the words.

And you know where you can put

your stuffy, drab,

pictureless magazine.

And the round goes to Delsanto!

- Delsanto?

- Ding, ding, ding.

What are you talking about?

She left the ring.

She quit.

It was hit and run.

Mm-hmm.

All right, all right,

I have a challenge for you.

Look, forget the poem.

You pick a subject, paint a

picture, we print it in the issue.

I write a thousand words

on the same subject.

We have an assembly.

Words versus pictures,

which is worth more?

Why should I bother?

This is your inane war.

Because then I will print the

best of your students' work.

You can choose them.

Come on.

It'll give them

something to shoot for.

This inane war is

energizing these kids.

No, I'm not painting.

I will choose the best

work of my students,

and you write your

thousand words off that.

No, it's not allowed.

I want you, Delsanto.

You're always sailing

off against the wind.

Shh.

I like that.

Come on.

Then, Shaftner, let me

know you're hungry.

Finetti, let Tammy know

you're attracted to her.

Tammy, let him know

you don't want him.

Okay, Stanhope, tell us you want to

gather the tribe together at noon.

You want to talk

about making arrows

and finding a better

place to dig for roots.

See, grunting is fine,

but it only goes so far,

and so are gestures

and cave paintings.

And so people out of

necessity invented

words,

one by one,

then codified them

by usage, by mutual agreement,

tribe by tribe, nation by nation.

We went from "root,"

"dig," "fire," "arrow,"

to "multitask,"

"irreverence,"

and what is supposedly the

most beautiful-sounding phrase

in the English language,

"cellar door."

You see, your language is

a living, growing thing

that sheds old words and

absorbs new ones every day.

And that's what I want

you to do, each of you,

invent a new word.

Tell us what it means,

where it comes from,

and why you think it might stay and

live in the language for a while.

The ten best new words

will appear in the

coming issue of the Lion

and just maybe spread from there

into usage around the school.

Then the country,

then who knows?

The entire world.

Is this for Marc's?

Oh, would you look at that?

I'm going to faint.

Give it up.

What? Give up Dim Sum?

He's so disgusting.

Why should I, man?

She's the one I want.

I really feel bad for you.

Lots of guys want her.

You know, I bet you want her, too.

- Yeah.

- Hey.

Hey, why ignore me, Princess,

when I could show you

a very good time?

Yeah? You showed Carol

Garson a good time,

and then you bragged it

all over the school.

Give me a break. She bragged, too.

Why won't you give me a

break, Your Highness?

Leave me alone!

Oh, my Princess, why?

Because you're slimy

and you're mean!

- Ohh!

- Rejected.

What are you laughing at?

BOY 2; on, hey!

Hey, get up!

What the hell are you doing?

Nothing, man! I just touched

the little sh*t's shoulder!

Yeah, like that?

Go, Cole!

Sabine?

Hello?

I can't undress.

The flare is killing me.

Okay, Dina?

Dina, I'm going to

come over right now.

Take some ibuprofen, okay?

Yes, thank you.

Thanks for seeing me.

I just wanted to apologize face

to face for what happened.

I was having some personal

problems that night.

It won't happen again.

People want to feel safe and

relaxed in here, Mr. Marcus.

It's... it's a haven.

It is.

It is a haven, I know.

I swear an oath, Mr. Franks,

may God strike me not

necessarily dead,

but seriously injured if I fail.

No, no, I really am serious.

Very well.

Thank you.

Hey, you're early.

Good boy.

Hey, have you seen Delsanto's work?

Yeah, yeah, I looked her up, too.

It's incredible.

Yeah.

Why the hell doesn't she

just stay at home and paint?

You think that cane is

from a football injury?

She has rheumatoid arthritis.

You know, there was

a time when my Edie

couldn't even brush her teeth.

Good morning. Good poem, Jack.

Oh, so you saw it?

Yes, honors art class made

copies, and I saw one.

I'm eager for the

magazine to come out.

Yeah, but it's not

coming out for weeks,

and I've got my review coming up,

so you'll tell them?

Certainly, I will show

them the poem, but...

But what?

What are my chances?

Looking better.

Some of your colleagues

will be interviewed.

We will see.

You know I'm back in good

graces at The Huntsman.

Good.

And the work in my class,

you should see some of the essays.

Bring me the essays.

Hey, you all right?

I mean, you were out

for a while, so...

So you missed me?

And yet you greet me so

antienthusiastically.

That's a nine.

Nine.

Welcome back, Delsanto.

That's not your best.

- It is my best.

- It's not.

I can judge that better than you,

and I can show you what

to do and how to do it.

Rate this script:0.0 / 0 votes