The tiny bird, weighed heavy
in his hands; parting was such
sweet sorrow for this weak tyrant
and his tame, wild sparrow;
a man, who had seldom been at peace
unless he was fighting; who, sadly,
had only been young forever...once.
A man, who knew, by inexperience,
the most effective way to lead folk,
is to walk, two steps behind...
that not to take risks, was riskier,
by far, than taking them; famous
for never having said of his enemies,
'They had all the virtues he abhorred,
and none of the vices he admired’.
But today, out of necessity, he must
be cruel to be kind. He shivers;
it was as cold as hell out there!
The bird’s heaven, would be
his purgatory, but he must
set it free; a standing duck
in its cage as it had been...
this man, deaf as a post, who hears
children, laughing, as two kids
with an air-gun, run off...
slowly, into a breaking dusk
as the sun sinks high in the sky.
“A joke is a very serious thing
he shouts!” softly, in front of them,
as the bird bids him a fond, ‘Hello’;
flies off into a falling dawn
as the young, old man speaks of love
and never says a word.
Comments
fatboy74 | February 28, 2011 - 00:58
This is really cleverly done Tina - was it inspired by the opening sonnet of Romeo and Juliet?
a man, who had seldom been at peace
unless he was fighting; who, sadly,
had only been young forever...once.
Love that stanza. ATB Fatboy :-)
Silver Spun Sand | February 28, 2011 - 08:18
Hi there, fb;-) When it occurred to me that the IP this week was an 'Oxymorronic' phrase, ie. one that contradicts itself, I couldn't resist writing a poem, as crammed full of oxymorrons as I could make it. Hence including the 'sweet sorrow' quote, etc. etc. Shakespeare, in fact, used them a great deal, with great effectiveness. Not to mention Churchill, of course;-)
But it is amazing how often we use them in our everyday speech, without even realising it.
Thanks for reading and glad you enjoyed.
Tina ;-)
seashore | February 28, 2011 - 09:42
I enjoyed this also Tina - very clever.
Silver Spun Sand | February 28, 2011 - 10:26
Thanks, Coral. I had great fun writing it. It gets to be quite addictive, in the end;-)
Tina
hilary west | February 28, 2011 - 11:32
There's something clever philosophically about the old oxymoron. You've shown this well.
Silver Spun Sand | February 28, 2011 - 11:42
Thanks, hilary...there most certainly is;-) Tina
skinner_jennifer | February 28, 2011 - 12:51
Hi Tina,
please excuse my ignorance, but I had never heard of
this word oxymoron, until I read it in these comments, so I have learnt something new today.
Getting back to your poem, I thought it was very
cleverly written, very good one for the IP.
Jenny.
Silver Spun Sand | February 28, 2011 - 12:57
Hi there, Jenny. I guess I'd probably heard of it, but I never really knew exactly what it meant until this week's IP, and I started to research it. Fascinating! Glad you enjoyed and many thanks for reading.
Tina
jonahs cough | February 28, 2011 - 14:19
wow this is great! you have to read it more than once to get the full impact. really enjoyed this, thanks tina.
Silver Spun Sand | February 28, 2011 - 14:35
Yes, jonah, you are right. There are quite a few of the little devils in there, but you do have hunt for them a bit. Glad you did, and that you enjoyed;-)
Tina
MistakenMagic | February 28, 2011 - 22:27
This is so cleverly done, Tina. Beautifully written - I enjoyed every single oxymoron :)
Magic xxx
Silver Spun Sand | March 1, 2011 - 08:51
Thanks, Magic. I need to count them one day. See exactly how many there are;-) Glad you enjoyed.
Tina xxx
Silver Spun Sand | March 1, 2011 - 10:27
Actually, just out of interest, I did count them, and there are twenty-five oxymorons, no less!