Friday 8 September 2023

TWO RINGS THE LIGHTER

Sometimes something I see in the street can spark off my imagination. This post's poem is the product of such a chance event. I was in the town centre recently and I happened to walk past a pawn broker's just as a middle aged woman was exiting. I wondered what the circumstances of her visit were and began to construct a poem around the line two rings the lighter, imagining she had been selling her wedding and engagement rings. Such is the morbid turn of my mind.

she left the shop

two rings the lighter

felt surprisingly heavy

amid the rush and press

of the mid-morning shoppers

reflected on how life was supposed to run

contrasted happy ever after

with her own history

that had led to a pawn broker

then moved through the people

each one intent on acting out

their own passion play

I wanted to expand the personal action of the pawning of the rings to include the lives of all the other people happening around her. To draw back from the close up to the crowd shot, so to speak. The phrase passion play just arrived and sealed the shape of the poem.

Pollyanna has been busy at work on a new set of songs and videos. At present she's making a video for her song Brighton Beach, the rushes look excellent. Here's Your Smile is Cold.


Until next time.

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