ghost of who we've been

Cherry

By celticman

Mon, 10 Nov 2014
  • 1257 reads
6 comments
 

 

Balletic boy’s laughter grows shrill and keen

Yawning electric doors drawing them into orbit

Others stop for a fag in the taxi rank

Fat blokes and thin mums, camouflage slipping

Weeping like soap stars from the telly-screen

Fears out themselves

Life’s narrators in a language they have seen

In a trance: watch, wonder, stumble on why

Good news, bad, some misunderstanding

Groans grow into grouching and slouching

People begin to believe

Someone’s blocked them in the carpark

The walk’s too long

The kerb too high

Normal life unravels in public places

Stiffs, crawling and bleeding and high

You’re on the far side of town

Forced to stand in the wrong place

Waiting for the light to change

The solitude of mutual pain

It would make you walk away

from the worst of people,

from the best of people --

if you could

At the mercy of  a green light

You can’t cross here.
 

Certificate PG
Poem
Drama

Comments

Submitted by VeraClark on

City street scenes fresh in the eyes, we're all watching each other and we can't change the direction it goes or escape either. Had a sense of looking through glass at social devastation.

 

Submitted by celticman on

cheers Vera, stops me from freezing up when you write it down. 

 

Submitted by Ray Schaufeld on

Very visual, can imagine this in a movie. A sense of fear, of 'them' of 'us'. End line works well.
 

Submitted by celticman on

nice when any part of it works well, thanks elsie. 

 

Submitted by jeand on

Hi CM

Very interesting poem. It projects a sort of uncomofortable and unhappy feeling. Nothing's right.

Jean

Jean Day

Submitted by celticman on

thanks Jean unsure about lots of it, but thanks for looking in.