1.
They’ve found a diamond
in the allotment
next to our house
where Wendy’s cousin screamed
into the Friday night
and later when stitches
criss-crossed her scissored skin
you said it was a shame
that she lost her pretty face.
We had a barbecue there once
a heart-shaped steak smoked in the heat
of percolated petrol and plastic sweat
the ooze of blood made me marvel at
the similarity: cow-blood, pig-blood,
your blood, mine.
2.
I’ve started meditating
in the living room, breathing
through an asthmatic wheeze
nursing carpet burns whilst
worrying about
how to talk,
how to formulate the
beginnings and endings
and I always choke when
my meticulous mould
of arithmetic prose
vanishes into the
confident glow of our
television set, fuck
this shit.
3.
You’re nicest to me on Facebook
but I’ve seen the secrets
in your embrace, when bones bust out of your body
but then –
you walk through the door
and your face isn’t the same
as I remembered
I was four years old when I tried to leave this place
- an afternoon at the station, tugging sleeves
begging to hear about faraway places
I still haven’t seen.
4.
There’s hope for me in these pills
the ones mum wraps in cabbage leaves
because we all know how you feel
about medicine
yes, you in your chair
the umbra of our cloaked kitchen
you –
it’s all over
the allotment burns
in the background
and my metallic tongue
speckled with words unwanted
dissolves like a tablet
he’s not hearing any of this son
he’s not even here.
Comments
seashore | April 5, 2011 - 05:51
This is one of my favourites of yours - I'm not sure why, it just is.
I love the line `You're nicest to me on Facebook'...
fatboy74 | April 5, 2011 - 07:35
I was four years old when I tired to leave this place
Think there may be a typo there.
I read this last night Maggy but wanted to read it again this morning just to check it was as good as I thought it was. It would be easy for us as readers to start to take these for granted - the skill and crafting that goes into each, the familiar format - hear's another Maggy Diary of oh it's gonna be good of course...it all starts with a blank page and I for one will not get blase about how good they are or the talent you have. Like seashore this is also my favourite, you remind me of jenny joseph a lot and I can see these as a poetry collection very, very easily. Wonderful stuff. :-)
Dynamaso | April 5, 2011 - 07:46
Yet another masterpiece, Maggy and I mean this sincerely. You pack so much into such a small space but it never feels crowded. Wow!
maggyvaneijk | April 5, 2011 - 07:55
thank you!
maggyvaneijk | April 5, 2011 - 09:42
thanks for the typo spot and your very kind words, I'm really happy you like it.
shoe | April 5, 2011 - 11:56
I always look forward to reading your posts, each is original and vibrant, I can go back and read them all again and again, really, really like this one too!!
celticman | April 5, 2011 - 12:52
Brilliant. And I don't even read poetry. So brilliant squared to the power of ten. You have real talent.
maggyvaneijk | April 5, 2011 - 13:14
thanks Celtic!
Kilb50 | April 5, 2011 - 15:02
Agree with all of the above. Demanded a second-third reading. Intricate and heartfelt, poignant without resorting to sentimentality. Good work!
barryj1 | April 5, 2011 - 15:09
Powerful stuff. I had to read through it twice to gain a full appreciation of everything you said here.
Highhat | April 5, 2011 - 19:41
Its nice to read the other comments as well- then I know there is absolutely nothing wrong with my taste for your poetry. Keep on truckin'
;)Pia
hilary west | April 6, 2011 - 13:44
Very accomplished Maggy !
MistakenMagic | April 6, 2011 - 15:40
'We had a barbecue there once
a heart-shaped steak smoked in the heat
of percolated petrol and plastic sweat
the ooze of blood made me marvel at
the similarity: cow-blood, pig-blood,
your blood, mine.'
- love the images in this stanza, Maggy! I really love this series, another splendid poem!
Magic xxx
Beeme | April 17, 2011 - 20:00
I agree- stunning! I'm going to re-read this one again and again...
Nathan Bednarek | May 17, 2011 - 21:21
"percolated petrol and plastic sweat"
How do you come up with such imagery? Amazing, beautiful, brilliant - I can keep going you know... ;-)
Almost brutal honesty here, really packs a punch. All too often we hear this story.
'Well done' just doesn't do it here... ;-)
Nathan.