Sunday, May 27, 2007

Two Poems


Back Seat Driver


As life moves relentlessly
From frame to frame
I watch it from the back row
In the dark

The detective
Knows who the villains are
All he has to do is catch them

Soon a few loose ends
May or may not get tied up
Someone will make a witty comment
And the credits will roll

Then maybe I’ll watch the prequel
Or stumble out into the cold
Streets of reality

I'll stroll
Along a wintry beach
My sun hat at a jaunty angle
To catch the rain

But I’m tired
And even though these seats are uncomfortable
I’m going to have a snooze

Wake me up when it’s all over

Now and Then

When my soul was whole
Before my voice was broken
And the mirror cracked

When the now of then
Before the pipes were frozen
Before melancholy came

When the universe
Gathered like a starry cloak
Before the first star

Collapsed. Before the moon
Waned. When the black hole joked
Above its horizon

When we were alive
Before time clicked into place
And Death’s staff was slender

When my blood crackled
With blue fire. When a cuddle
Was all that mattered

Now we wait. For what?
The sun to consume the Earth
And an early frost.

10 comments:

Roger Stevens said...

Hi. Been away from Blogland for a while. So busy. Hope everyone's well.

In France right now having a break before Crazy June starts. The weather here's not very seasonal though. Wet and damp.

I don't know if I've posted either of these poems before. I've lost track. They're a bit gloomy actually.

I'll post a nice jolly one next.

XXX

Prerona said...

This one was beautiful!

Sue hardy-Dawson said...

For an awful moment I thought something horrid must have happened, glad you're just busy and it's nice to see crazy June's still around.

Very good, but painfully dark, the weather here's seasonal too, wet and damp, take your pick of which season, Which is why all being well we're off to sunny Spain to celebrate our 20th wedding aniversary soon. I hope the clouds don't follow us and you get crazy June well under control

BW
Sue

Wastedpapiers said...

Nice to see you in Blogland once more. looking forward to the jolly poems of Summer- not that these are as gloomy as some I've read in the past.
If I were a poet i would be writing a couplet or two about having a bad back and being trapped indoors for days on end! They wouldnt be very cheerful either!

Hazel has a bad back too which is doubly annoying- over the bank holiday weekend. Not that the weather is any good - boot sales cancelled and walks to feed ducks on hold. The walk is - not the ducks.

Hope all is well with Jilly's Dad and the weather improves soon.

treena said...

back seat driver makes me feel like im "home again"
and i miss it -only sometimes, when im still, smells like grey!!!!!

Anonymous said...

I thought these were ruddy good.

Russell CJ Duffy said...

blogland misses you even if the poems are gloomy.
my youngest daughter recently came second in a poetry competition and won a book containing various poets works. guess what? you are amongst them!!

Shubhodeep said...

nice poems... therez a certain sweetness even in the sadness... or maybe i mean tenderness..

Wastedpapiers said...

Looking forward to some REAL poems soon after all the wine and camembert has been consumed. In the meantime a daft one here from me-

In a tree
The purple squirrel
Dangles precariously
His name is Cyril
All sticky with jam
He fell into a pan
Whilst dangling

Now I have covered
All the pans of jam
So Cyril will not dangle
Over them
And perchance to fall
The rain has washed
The purple off
He dangles over
A big blue trough
Of marmalade


I shall write another soon unless you start blogging right away!

Wastedpapiers said...

Well I warned you!


An arm and a leg
Said the newsagent
As he gasped at the price
Of the Sunday Times

Yes, you have to take it home
In a wheel barrow
I replied smiling
Ah, that old chestnut.