DIY

Gold cherry
Poem of the week

By Philip Sidney

Sun, 24 Sep 2017
  • 4152 reads
14 comments
 

Paper peelings fall as confetti on a wintery afternoon,
jungle creepers fly from their familiar place, 
she - a wild thing in the storm,
stripping leaves they’d chosen,
lured by that hint of something hidden
and the lovely name, Vymura,
a charm for the home that they would make.

Not for them his parents’ anaglypta
glowing nicotine brown in the early morning light,
the patina locked in,
glossed against the tremors of the world.

Nor her parents’ careless disregard
for the temporary battlements of short-term rentals,
behind which pennies were scraped
for children’s shoes - and food for the encroaching evening.

Her nails and knuckles bruise in the frantic undressing of walls,
forcing them beyond the point of restoration -
astonishing, the transformation into strange

and how cool, the plaster against her cheek
as she reads that heart-shaped message
they had sketched as a totem

ancient and forgotten

as the eye of a bison etched in blood
in a cave at midnight
by the light of a stinking, flesh-fed fire.

Certificate 12
Poem
Inspiration Point (work that responds to our weekly writing cue)

Comments

Submitted by airyfairy on

Our homes really do contain the layers of our lives.  I loved this.  So visual, and also a ghostly feeling of the hidden past.  Great writing.

Submitted by Philip Sidney on

Thanks airyfairysmiley

and thanks for the cherries!

Submitted by Di_Hard on

Enjoyed this, should it be "stripping" the leaves? It is strange seeing evidence of other people's lives in the place/shell you think of as your own

 

Submitted by Philip Sidney on

Oh yes - slightly rushed - thanks Di :)

Submitted by Insertponceyfre... on

There is something extremely cathartic about wallpaper stripping, and other similar jobs. As good, if not better, than therapy, and quite a lot cheaper! 

You've captured it all brilliantly here Phil. Very pleased with how inspiring this week's Inspiration Point is turning out to be.

This is our Facebook and Twitter Pick of the Day!

Please share/retweet if you like it too

 

Submitted by celticman on

Vymura, never heard of it. Anaglypta covers a mulittude of sins. yes, I hear the voices of past and present. fine wrought work. 

 

Submitted by Philip Sidney on

Thank you so much for pick of the day, insertsmiley

Submitted by Philip Sidney on

Thanks Celticman.  My first job was in a DIY shop. When I wasn't being sent for sky hooks and rainbow paint I was coveting the Vymura wallpaper. smiley

Submitted by airyfairy on

A real bit of inspiration prompted by our Inspiration Point, and it's our Poem of the Week.  Congratulations!

Submitted by Philip Sidney on

Well thank you very much!  Lovely surprise smiley

Submitted by Parson Thru on

Nicely written, Philip. Lovely idea. Made me think of the sadness of part-demolished houses with their exposed walls of torn wallpaper. I was wise to the bucket of steam, but they got me with the long stand.

Parson Thru

Submitted by PoetonaHill on

A poem about the great indoors as evocative as one about the great outdoors. The other side of life where, armed with a scraper, you excavate your walls to reveal your past memories. Excellent!

 

Submitted by Pat G on

Yes. I love the bruised knuckles and cool plaster, but above all the Stone Age allusion. Long live Vymura.

Submitted by Steve on

Ditto.