The Treadmills of My Mind

Cherry

By Turlough

Thu, 23 Nov 2023
  • 1286 reads
16 comments
 

 

Sing a song of two and a half new pee

As we mourn the decline of the bumble bee

And the sewage floating in the sea

Taints the daisy taste of your chamomile tea

 

Sergeant Pepper and Colonel Mustard

Are bearing arms; the world’s disgusted

Just blame it on the maladjusted

Not grand old dukes who can’t be trusted

 

Well I’ve been losing my mind, crying all night in bed

Whenever I dream it’s of banks and bloodshed

Those seventy-two virgins playing games in my head

Dear Agatha saw this; it’s murder she said

 

Stuffed shirts in a palace have the whole world controlled

Misshapen young bodies on the streets die of cold

I’m careering through time behind a silken blindfold

Why’s Jeanne Jugan condemned me to live to be old?

 

There was an old woman who lived in a boot

They wanted to move her; some awful dispute

A cantankerous obstacle to those who commute

Locked her up in the mental red brick institute

 

Possession, obsession with horseless carriage

The movie stars' sell us their fantasia marriage

A satanic globule; who can like Nigel Farridge?

In my masterclass you’ll learn to disparage

 

Parsley, sage, onion and Rosemary Squires

Filthy lucre laundered in gold tumble driers

Fomorians dance reels as humanity expires

Whilst fanning the flames of our funeral pyres

 

Like a circus going viral

Like a seal with sex appeal

Always twisting and contorting

Despite the weariness I feel

As the nightmares all rewind

Hallucinations that I find

In the treadmills of my mind

 

Image:

Every image my own work. 

The Gdańsk Eye.

Certificate U
Poem
Poetry in Commotion
Surreal
Autobiography

Comments

Submitted by marandina on

Has Farage changed his surname since appearing in the Jungle? He'll do anything to avoid the misdeeds of his past.

A weird and wonderful poem. A randomness that seems to work. You put your insomnia to good use, Turlough.

 

Submitted by Turlough on

Thanks very much for that Paul. 

If Farage doesn't want to be European he becomes Farridge, at which point he rhymes... his only redeeming feature (in my opinion).

Turlough

Submitted by skinner_jennifer on

Hi Turlough,

it sounds like you need a touch of deep breathing and transcendental meditation in your life. Yet you've created an amazing poem here, it made me think of Alice In Wonderland with all the characters...I could just imagine you falling through a worm hole with many figures flashing before your eyes.

I know you probably think I'm strange with my thoughts on your poem, but this is honestly what I took from it. I also liked the flow, very inspiring.

Jenny.

 

 

Submitted by Turlough on

Hello Jenny.

I think, like art, poetry is supposed to be as much for the reader as for the writer and we are all entitled to our own opinions of it. With the exception of Rosemary Squires (who I included solely because she rhymed) everything in my poem is a comment on something awful that's happened in the world, so I'm absolutely delighted that you see it in such an up-beat way. I feel much happier about it now. 

I always greatly appreciate your comments, or anybody's comments. It's the only way we can tell if we are getting it right or getting it wrong. 

Many many thanks.

Turlough

Submitted by Di_Hard on

Genius title, even for you! I wish I had some advice, but I am not good at sleeping, either. Have you tried reading gardening books before bed time?

 

Submitted by Turlough on

Thanks very much Di.

The insomnia's only a winter thing really and it's not every night. I really detest this time of year and everything about it, and have done for most of my life. The beginning of January always brings a smile to my face but until then I'll pop my vitamin D capsules and try to pretend everything's alright.

I've learned that the answer to the sleeping problem is definitely not to start writing poetry, or to even think about it. I started this one round about 2:00 am yesterday and it kept me wide awake until way past breakfast time, at which point it was finished and so was I. It's strange how falling asleep in an uncomfortable place in the middle of the day is something I never find difficult.

 

Turlough

Submitted by Di_Hard on

you sound like you might have some cat genes :0)

 

Submitted by Turlough on

I knew I'd catch something off them sooner or later.

Incidentally, we took another wretched little soul in from the cold last week. Alas, the dominant species becomes more and more dominant.

Turlough

Submitted by Di_Hard on

Am feeding a feral cat here, he will come into the kitchen to eat, nervously, but runs away afterwards. How do persuade your cats to stay? Do they let you stroke them? Do the longer term residents beat up the new ones?

 

Submitted by Turlough on

We only take in the very young cats that appear painfully weak and which will probably die if we don't help them. The latest acquisition was covered in muck, soaking wet, alive with fleas, had a distended belly caused by internal parasites and weighed only 500g. They usually come running towards us out of desperation and never give any indication that they want to leave us again.

There are dozens of feral cats in our village but they mostly look quite strong and reasonably healthy considering the conditions they live in. They're totally unapproachable and sometimes aggressive so we just let them get on with their lives. It's impossible to rescue a cat that doesn't want rescuing. If you want to help a feral cat it's maybe best to just leave food outside for them and if you want a new cat to live in your house perhaps there's a cat rescue centre with inmates looking for homes not too far from where you live. From our experience, kittens are adaptable but adults aren't.

There's always a lot of grumbling and shrieking in our house when a new one arrives but that mostly settles down after a month or so. We're back up to eight now. We had nine for a while but experienced a couple of heartbreaking episodes during the last year.

Good on you Di for wanting to help them. Many wouldn't.

Turlough

Submitted by seashore on

Just found this Terry...for me one of your best. Just read it twice. 2 am is a good time to write when the brain is wired more creatively than during the day.

Way back when, I used to do my best artwork in the wee small hours xx

Submitted by Turlough on

Ah, thanks very much Coral.

I agree that 2:00 am is a great time to be creative, provided that has been my plan. But when it has been my plan to go to sleep and my head has filled with irritating things and problems and has started screaming at me it's not so special.

I used to panic about this during the years of my life when I had to go out and earn a crust each day but it doesn't matter so much now that I'm an old age pensioner. It's still irritating though, especially when I consider that it comes as a consequence of the dark months.

Any road, it's coming up to midnight here now and I'm still sitting up being creative on the computer. There'll probably be something else for you to read tomorrow.

In the meantime, night night.

Turlough

Submitted by Nolan on

Know the story just too well so does Bob Dylan and Mr Tambourine man.

Cheers, good night! & Nolan

 

Submitted by Turlough on

At this time of day perhaps one more cup of coffee for the road isn't such a good idea.

Sleep tight!

Turlough

Submitted by celticman on

keep thinking of that song windmills of our mind. 

 

Submitted by Turlough on

That was the plan Jack.

If you're a singing sort of a fella you might find that the words of last verse of my poem fit in well with the music of the last verse of the song The Windmills of Your Mind.

It's a shame Dusty Springfield's not still around to perform it for us.
 

Turlough