JUST THE LUCK OF THE DRAW

Certain poems never feel quite finished. Take today's rewrite. I was doing a reading recently and read what I had thought was the finished version only to be dissatisfied with the whole thing. You can read that version here.

MURDER MYSTERY

I have arranged all this

sent out the invitations

Cobbled together a costume

to mirror the part I play

Here we are at table

all nervous laughter

We face each other

across the place settings

You are the married woman with secrets to hide

art imitates life

Your husband's role is as a trendy vicar

just the luck of the draw

Events unfold

follow the printed script

You could have done it! The vicar cries

points at you across the table

You’re having an affair!

The penny has dropped

The cat is out of the bag

I study your eyes

wait for your response

You denial sounds convincing

art imitating life

Then all attention turns to me

as I am revealed to be the murderer

There is much changed. I have tried to simplify the story, changed the layout and hopefully made it clearer. I wanted to emphasise that the narrator knows more than he is saying and the husband less. Probably time to put it away for another twelve years!

The Wave Pictures have a new album out. Here's House Painted Blue.

until next time.  

HOW TO CORRUPT YOUR OWN COUNTRY

I woke in the middle of the night with the germ of this poem circling inside my head. I got up and sketched the bare bones in the light of a street lamp.

HOW TO CORRUPT YOUR COUNTRY

• start with the teachers. Make them mouth your new lies. Fashion the curriculum until it mirrors your twisted logic and hate is triumphant

• control the media. This goes without saying. Pass laws that make truth telling illegal.

• silence all who dare to disagree. Show trials can be effective, as can framing the innocent. If this fails fall back on the death squads.

• have neighbour inform on neighbour, brother on sister. Offer incentives to ensure that none will know who they can trust.

• once all this is achieved, begin to purge those closest to you. The corruption you have condoned will provide real evidence.

• try to sleep at night, if you can. 

It is an angry poem. How many times have individuals sought to destroy democracy? Probably since we invented democracies. This is a work in progress. I worry it is too hectoring, far too much tell and not enough show. Plus it is essentially a list poem and it is difficult to pull off a list poem without it sounding simply a list!

Iron and Wine have a new album out, Hen's Teeth, a great title.

Until next time.

THE GREAT AND THE GOOD

I collect phrases I like, ones that I hear or read in books. The trouble is I usually do nothing with them. The other day though, I decided to use one that has been knocking about for some time as a writing exercise. I do not remember where the phrase the unpopular provincial museum came from but it sparked this.

THE UNPOPULAR PROVINCIAL MUSEUM

Neither the locale nor the architecture

is anything to write home about.

The walls are lined with portraits

of people you’ve never heard of,

presumably the great and the good,

poorly executed by artists whose enthusiasm

outweighed their ability.

This one it is claimed won a Bronze,

another a cap for his country,

here it is secure, pinned to the wall,

for the few who visit to see.

It all adds up to a feeling

that nothing has ever happened here,

which given the times we live in,

adds to its attractiveness

and makes it a desirable and safe place to live.

I think the description of the museum needs to be more detailed, more damming, so that the turn at the end of the poem is more unexpected. Given the uncertainty surrounding every aspect of life at the moment who would not wish to be somewhere dull and safe?

Maya De Vitry is recording a new album at the moment. Here's a recent live recording.

Until next time.