Lead me to your place

Lead me to your place tonight
I'm not afraid of darkness
My only fear
Is quiet evenings
in front of television sets

I’ve already been
To your house in the wood
Time ago
Don't you remember ?
The night was chilly and rainy
And I asked myself
What I was doing there
So far from my armchair
My slippers my window.

I saw a flipping light
And followed it through the bushes
He turned back to me
" Why are you here
And not in the cottage
In the forest?
We elves have spread
A thousand jasmines
on your pillows
Millions of stars twinkle
on the ceiling
And magic pipers will
sing lullabies
for you at night

A new perfect world
is waiting
for you
and your lover”.

“I'm afraid, my friend,
I must refuse your kind invitation
I'm scared by perfect worlds
And diamond rings
And flowers which never fade
But live for ever

I need my petty habits
My worn slippers
My old armchair
My television set”

that's what I said
Then
And what I thought

Can you forgive
My mindlessness
And my unkindness?
Is that train gone
For ever?
Have you spared an invitation
For me?
Do you mind asking me
Again?
I'm not afraid of happiness
Anymore
I've thrown old slippers
And worn pillows
Into the waste bin
And I’m going
To smash the TV set

Ring me up
Fax me
Send me an e-mail
Blow a whistle

I'll come running
To the cottage in the wood

Witchy, 8th July 2006

Witchy's notes for teachers:

1st activity:

Warming up: The teacher asks: "What is the main topic of the poem?" The answer is obviously "Being afraid of happiness and of reaching goals in general". The teacher asks: "Have you ever been afraid of happiness? Have ever tried to reach a goal and been afraid of getting it at the same time? "

• Step 1(NLP activity): Students fold a paper in three parts. In the middle they write down a goal and, if they like they can draw a picture; on the right they write down how they would feel, what they would see and what they would hear when they finally reach this goal; on the left side they write the things that could prevent them from reaching the goal.

• Step 2: When they finish writing students will look at the left column and make another classification by sorting out the factors that are inside themselves and the ones which are outside. The teacher asks: "Which impediment do you think you can control? The inner factors or the outer factors?" The answer is, obviously, that you cancontrol yourself but not things which are outside yourself like people, environment, destiny, luck, etc.

• Step 3: Now the teacher asks students to write down a strategy to reach their goal. Which factors should be taken into account: outer or inner factors? The students write a five-step strategy involving inner factors like studying, working hard, being convinced, being self-willed, spending more time in an activity useful for reaching the goal etc.

• Step 4: The students explain their goals to the class or, if they prefer, or they discuss them in small groups. At the end they relax and visualize how it feels to reach that goals in terms of inner feelings, sights, voices and sounds.

2nd activity: NLP presuppositions

Step 1: The teacher photocopies this list of NLP presuppositions and give students the handouts. Then she asks them to read the presuppositions and put a tick beside the ones they consider most useful and sensible and a cross beside the ones which seem to be stupid or useless.

Witchy says: "NLP doesn't claim that these presuppositions are necessarily true, but they may turn out extremely powerful, in the sense that they may help in achieving outcomes (goals) more easily".

Step 2: Not all presuppositions have an obvious meaning. Students discuss presuppositions in small groups and compare their interpretations and how they have assessed them.

Bye bye villagers! I leave you but new information about NLP presuppositions are coming!!!

P.S. Did you like the poem, by the way?

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