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Neighbours

Posted by Ewan on March 20, 2009 - 07:11
from the ABC set

Was there one living on your street?
With a push for a car, a child-friendly sweet?
A fatherly Fred or motherly Rose;
selling teenagers' second-hand clothes.
A Nielsen, a Nilson in your tower-block,
or Jolly Josef you met in Bangkok?
Do you tell yourself you always knew?
You just weren't sure what you should do?
Behind the lace, behind the chintz,
the things that happen make Masoch wince:
or out on the moors, in the country wild,
there's a loon and his blonde with another child.
Evil makes a homely pretence
and calmly murders innocence.

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Comments

lenchenelf | March 20, 2009 - 09:15

'Evil makes a homely pretence
and calmly murders innocence'.
Grim subject(s) extending far beyond the actions of those identified in your well written poem,atb L

littleditty | March 20, 2009 - 09:47

yep -horror. and chillingly written. Strong poem, questions work well -when the story in the news now, came out last year - the newspaper blogs talked and talked - good place to place some strong poems --> go to the press :)

jennifer | March 20, 2009 - 10:36

The lack of community perhaps adds to it, a chilling poem, well observed, I also found the ending couplet superbly put,

J x

jennifer | March 20, 2009 - 10:36

p.s. not sure about the second comma in the opening line

J x

Ewan | March 20, 2009 - 10:46

Actually, come to think of it, neither am I. Yes, it's meant to stop the reader in their tracks... if I were reading aloud I'd do it like that... so that the sense of it is 'actually living in (y)our street', or even that such people do not live, if to live is to be human, do you see? Of course, that might be what you don't like about it, in which case I accept your point of view. Hmmm.... maybe I'll take out both the commas!!

Ewan
x

threeleafshamrock | March 21, 2009 - 09:34

Superb! Well addressed and chillingly highlights the all-to-often 'normality' that camouflages such evil.

Chris