Feeding a prejudice

Cherry

By Parson Thru

Tue, 30 Jul 2019
  • 1580 reads
10 comments
 

Anís, patatas and Simon Critchley.
Buses rolling by, disinterested.

The lively sound of Spanish voices.
A backdrop to the table nextdoor.

American. North American. US, almost certainly.

I discovered an oversight whilst teaching here.

America is a continent. North. South. Central.
Americans inhabit all three zones.

Estados Unidos. That’s Spanish for the USA.
Estadounidenses. The people who live there.

Makes a difference, that, I realised.

My neighbours are intense. Forced, perhaps.
He moved his seat for me earlier. Which was kind.

She arrived soon after. Bright. Open. Confident.
She might have been Spanish.

The backdrop is noisy, but joyful and carefree.
It’s a sound that drew me here and held me.

There’s something desperate about the neighbours.
The perception of something more at stake, hanging like a cloud.

I’m rereading a section of Critchley. I’m no intellectual.
Rereading is my life. In the hope that one day...

“People know me as a person who....” I missed the rest.
But it set a worm to work among my thoughts.

He doesn’t speak. He presents. Are they all TV mannequins?

I’m leaning back, now, pondering. “Who are they?”
“Who’s grilling whom?” “To what end?” “What’s the deal?”

“Why do I care?” Because the problem is clearly with me.

Is it years that turn a jaundiced eye upon the world?
Or maybe cuts and slashes left by briars?

The crowd is thinning out. It’s on my mind to do the same.
But I owe some time to Critchley.

If I read this section twice, something might go in.

What happened to the anís?

Certificate U
Poem
Parson Thruses Dairy
Travel

Comments

Submitted by Parson Thru on

:)) I was about to delete because it's so negative!

Thanks for the cherries. X

Parson Thru

Submitted by Parson Thru on

The clue's in the title, I suppose, but I'd like to register my inner controversy with this piece. If I could understand Spanish better, I'm sure I'd hear the same thing going on. Similarly if I was sitting in the right bars in the UK or anywhere else. On the flip-side, there are many estadounidenses I've met who don't fit this stereotype. But it was a moment, and a reaction, and here it is.

Could have been worse. I could have written it in the third person whilst feeling it in the first.

Parson Thru

Submitted by onemorething on

I’m glad you didn’t take it down. I think it neatly sums up those moments of people-watching / listening in when we realise the discomfort is more our own perhaps. It’s thoughtful and that’s clear in what you’ve written. Also, Anis is a favourite tipple of mine so I appreciate it on that score alone. 

 

Submitted by Parson Thru on

Thanks onemorething. It was an accidental discovery. Yes, our observations reveal a lot about ourselves.

Parson Thru

Submitted by Insertponceyfre... on

I'm glad you didn't delete it either - I love overhearing snatched conversations (and have been known to jot them down in the past)

 

Submitted by Parson Thru on

Thanks insert. We're a terrible lot, aren't we?

Parson Thru

Submitted by Di_Hard on

"The backdrop is noisy, but joyful and carefree.
It’s a sound that drew me here and held me."

Makes me think of a moth on an electric light, feeling it is not how the moon should be.

Is anis in the last line also for anos?

 

Submitted by Parson Thru on

Hi Di. If the electric light is fatal sleep deprivation, perhaps. Or femmes fatales (kidding, of course). You got me thinking about tildes, but it's an acento that's missing. You're right about the years, but they seem more sedate here than there. It's the days and weeks that fly.

Parson Thru

Submitted by Ewan on

what happened to the anis. I hope you had another one.

Author Page at the 'Zon
 

Submitted by Parson Thru on

Couldn't attract the camarero's attention. Had to get up and go inside to pay in the end. Chain café. Our most interesting one has closed.

Parson Thru