“Autobiography of A Word”(In a nutshell)
"Plagiarism" -
I’m an ancient word
still crawling and surviving
to demoralize the creative world.
I have been in the dictionaries
for many, many years.
And I’ve never stayed neutral.
Now that I have become old,
I feel repentant for my silent ruinous activities.
I have lived a disguised life of a menace.
A word of threat I am
for every single credulous creative brain cell!
I have no face to tell you how I have been used
even by renowned authors and artists;
but now I no longer can step forward
with the burden of my ten letters
of septic limbs which are badly in need of amputation.
I no more want to purloin
another author's words, thoughts or ideas.
“Enough is enough”- I censure and stop !
The modern concept of mine
still remains as disgraceful as it was during the 18th century
I should have been buried alive!
(Yes, indeed, before the “Romantic Movement” when the artists and authors were encouraged to pamper me by avoiding superfluous inventions.)
I don’t want to go back to those brutal centuries again.
I am innocent – I tell you!
I know nothing about those legal terms or anything of that sort.
I know not about the laws of intellectual property
But I hate the bad practice that has been spread out surrounding me, even along with me!
Using my ten tiny alphabets as their inspirational slaves, they keep on writing,
daring the words and concepts of another brain!
Now I want my banishment - not from the dictionary;
but from the entire world of creativity.
From the world of literature and arts I want to retire.
Let the honest world bury me into the pages of old dictionaries
merely as a word!
Written on the 3rd December,2011.
©Munia Khan 2011
So Fantastic !!! I love this Munia . Yes so Fantastic !!!! Kind Regards. Philip
Great work dear Munia, I would also love to see this word out only because it does a lot of fights, at times I feel we may exaggerate..I watched singers dragging to court other singers only because have used their songs..(aren't they supposed to spread goodness ?) Of course it is very bad manner , really wrong to use someone's work and declare that is your own, worse when you have "profit" scribbled on mind , yet it happens many times for people to be inspired and use or bond to someone's expression or idea to continue it with your own, purely for the sake of expression, creation , or in search for self ,without the intention of doing any act of plagiarism. Oh yes, most times when I hear "plagiarism" I also hear "money". If you would erase the first word, I would love to erase the second, lol. Loved your poem, thank you for share.
true, poem carries a great message, but one got to admire the way you presented the theme. It is bit like a soliloquy, loved the way you personified the term-- Cheers for the originality
This is hell of a poem and coming from a talented poet like you , it wear the crown of authority with the jewels of creativity embedded firmly in it. This is simply wonderful and my word is wooooooooooooooooooooooooooowwwwwwwwwwwwww
wow, Munia, what a profound and creative write on plagiarism.. a confession from the word itself. enjoyed it immensely. thank you for sharing :)
plagiarism is a dead concept now! now writers are experts in cocktail literature! "the alchemist" is the greatest example of it!
A confession from Plagiarism itself! Brilliant imagination, Munia
You have such a way with words friend
An excellent wrie on a subject that has often plagued this site... Thanks Munia - I too wish it could be buried forever within the tome called a dictionary!!
A timely, magnificently expressed sentiment woven into a wonderfully crafted, admirable piece of unique art that conveys the true meaning of poetry and what it stands for... that dastardly 'P' word should remain buried in the pages of a dictionary. Well said! :)
absolutely beautiful, my dear lil sis
how clever is this expose of the world of plagarism... engagingly penned... and wise
Munia, I loved the way you stepped on the shoes but left the shine...Your words are delicate yet firm. You speak with heart and have not cast stones...Someone wrote once "To Thine Ownself Be True"...How many ways can we say "I love you!" and make it totally our own...Perhaps your verse will quiet the voices of "Off with her head!" Dorothy A Poet Who Loves To Sing
Such an original, wise and talented write. The word may be banished but the act can still be described in various other names.
Plagiarism is dishonesty, but an act of flattery.
Integrity, trust, honesty, originality and imagination take a lot of hard work and it shows in every line Munia. This could never have been written by anyone but you, and that's what makes poets so uniquely special. :) kath xxxx
Absolutely brilliant Munia and a wonderful contribution to Poetfreak on a ten letter word which is timely and fascinating reading. I am in awe of all this information Munia, and Ben Gieske's comment is excellent as is your poem. From a great admirer of your writing and researching Munia, a BIG THANK YOU for this contribution!!
This is too delightfully expressed. I love it! And yet, curiously enough there are a collection of souls through history I suppose, who like to claim that by plagiarizing they are not stealing, if they morph the original with some handy tweakage. For example, I once commented some months ago now to a fellow poet who posted a very slightly tweaked version of an Emily Dickinson poem as if it was all his own work; and he haughtily replied something along the lines of poetic license. Since I could not think what else to do, I just shrugged. Excellent coverage of the subject matter with a wonderful dash of humor. I quite enjoyed it.
This says a lot in a very sensible manner. A novel approach: words speaking for themselves rather then spoken. Only by being creative can we be true poets. A plagiarist is a copier and nothing more. Nothing creative about that. Language and words are part of our nature. What better way to be human than to use our brains to speak the words that our truly our own thoughts and expressions.
You are just fantastic, Munia :-)