The One...

By Silver Spun Sand

Tue, 01 Apr 2014
  • 2523 reads
8 comments
 
labelled a chatterbox, and a jinx.
 
Don’t talk, or worse still, giggle
at mealtimes – don’t interrupt. Don’t 
speak unless you’re spoken to.
 
Children should be seen,
and not heard.
 
Go forth placidly – remember
what peace there is in silence,
some geek wrote one day.  
 
Where was the peace
in dodging Dad’s leather belt, 
and Mum’s cane? Forever, hanging 
in the hall – a constant reminder. 
 
A lost cause, me...
 
The one clapped too soon
at the high school concert...
the proverbial fly in the ointment,
 
the one shouldn’t have been born...
 
not if the gin, a knitting needle 
and hot tub, had done its stuff.
 
The one married the wrong bloke,
the one was in the wrong place
at the wrong time,
 
the one – got by
of sorts – 
 
the one walked into a cupboard door 
once too often –
 
turned the other cheek, 
for all the good it did, so...put an ad 
in the paper: 
 
Going for a song:
no strings attached...
 
one apron; older
than I care to remember;
one careful owner from new...
free to good home...
 
the one, dreams on.
Certificate 15
Poem
Silver Spun Sand Poems
Unclassified
Love

Comments

Submitted by Ray Schaufeld on

It seems to me that this very effective poem is driven by a tightly controlled anger. I like the use of everyday phrases 'the fly in the ointment', 'walked into a cupboard door'. The repetition of 'the one, the one' builds the poem's momentum and makes many of us aware that the narrator is not the only one with life's experiences of this kind.              Elsie
 

Submitted by Silver Spun Sand on

You are intuitive, elsie...more than.  Thank you.

Tina

 

Submitted by Bee on

The sweetest roses are the easiest to crush.

Bee

Submitted by Silver Spun Sand on

Too true, Bee...too true.

Tina

 

Submitted by Starfish Girl on

It seems that 'the ones' existance did not deserve a name, was just there, until the very last line where dreams can't be stifled.

Quite chilling.

Lindy

Submitted by Silver Spun Sand on

In a nutshell, Lindy.

My thanks.

Tina

 

Submitted by VeraClark on

'The one' is hundreds of children I've known and worked with. You've got a rein on this, but you still select the most innocent action to receive retribution - clapping too soon and that's abuse enough to sink your reader. Haunting stuff.

 

Submitted by Silver Spun Sand on

Vera - you have it, in a nutshell.

Tina