Below watercolour skies he sits content
on tatty plastic sofa – a square peg in this
dump-it-get-a-new-one age.
Overhead, a flock of seagulls shoot the breeze. One
by one they land, establish pecking order; feathers fly
before they dine on whatever they can scavenge.
Under graffiti-daubed, grey arches, his abode;
an inside-out kind of home with river frontage.
With its antique tilt-topped table, a welcome refugee
from some burnt-out stately mansion, a clapped-out
iron framed mangle, circa 1953
and a cello with no strings. Borough Market
just a stone’s throw away; pigs’ trotters, fish-heads,
his for the taking when the stallholder turns a blind eye.
Under frosty, phosphorescent skies, needs must
he gets wrapped up in the news; The Telegraph,
The Independent, whatever he can find. He’s not fussy.
A fingernail moon sails high above Tate Modern,
spawning images – transient, bizarre; shapes and shadows fall
on ochreous walls. Abandoned bathtubs, sinks and stoves,
ever growing hoards of trash, throw a myriad of patterns.
Tin trays clatter-crash – the vermin scatter as the gaffer
on the dump sets to work, sifting, searching, discarding nothing.
One man’s waste is another man’s treasure.
Behind him, the flicker of a fire … a mountain of detritus,
a beacon of our time, burning bright … ever brighter.
Comments
Nathan Bednarek | September 17, 2008 - 17:39
Here’s another great poem. May I ask how many poems you write each day or have written? It's just that you seem to post something new every day ;-)
MistakenMagic | September 17, 2008 - 18:03
Oh this one's a cherry, I can feel it :) Love Love looovveeed it - a very unpoetic way of expressing it but I couldn't think of anything better! My favourite lines;
'A fingernail moon sails high above Tate Modern,'
and
'With its antique tilt-topped table, a welcome refugee
from some burnt-out stately mansion, a clapped-out
iron framed mangle, circa 1953'
oh and
'Under frosty, phosphorescent skies,'
Love love loooved the imagery!
chuck | September 17, 2008 - 19:46
I liked the bit about 'wrapped up in the news'. Great stuff.
Caolan_le_Paddy | September 17, 2008 - 21:25
Great poem as usual Tina :)
The last line was a great line to finish off as well, well done.
Silver Spun Sand | September 18, 2008 - 11:50
Glad you enjoyed it, Nathan and thanks for letting me know.
I write at least one poem a day, but have many 'on the hob' so to speak.
Tina:-)
Silver Spun Sand | September 18, 2008 - 11:53
My thanks to you, Magic. Pleased that you got so much from this one.
Speaking about iron-framed mangles, but grandmother used on every Monday. It was kept outside in the shed (where the outside loo was) and covered by a tatty old Union Jack!
Tina
Silver Spun Sand | September 18, 2008 - 11:54
Chuck - I wondered if anybody would pick up on this. And you did! Thanks for that and for taking the trouble to comment. Pleased it pleased you:-)
Tina
Silver Spun Sand | September 18, 2008 - 11:55
Caolan - you words much appreciated. Thanks for reading and commenting.
Tina
sunshine | September 18, 2008 - 19:30
Some excellent imagery here and beautiful phrases. Just one thing I kept stumbling over and that was the near repetition of 'under' and 'below'. Repetition in concept/meaning which might perhaps have been stronger as part of the backbone of the poem if the 'under' had been a 'below' as well. Then the repetition might have seemed more deliberate. But I enjoyed this hugely nevertheless. Margot
Silver Spun Sand | September 19, 2008 - 08:32
I agree with you hands down, Margot. I had great problems with this under/below thing. I shall take a further look at it. What you say makes a lot of sense and I thank you for your more than valued advice.
Tina:-)
anipani | September 22, 2008 - 15:26
loved reading this, and i too liked the fingernail moon. i am in a dearth of writing at the moment, so particularly enjoy the moment when I read something fresh, engaging. thanks. anne
Silver Spun Sand | September 22, 2008 - 23:50
anne - thank you so much. To read your words, on a particularly mundane Monday, was refreshing for me and I am glad that you got something similar from my poem.
Thank you.
Tina