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"mantlepiece" poems
her ring sits on the mantlepiece worn thin on one side that dull warm yellow that gold sometimes takes on i remember it cutting into my hand as she held it tightly as we shopped it was bright and shiny then she used to wear it on her longest finger after dad left us, she left it off for awhile and then wore it on the other hand it was tight on her workworn hands then she took it off again before she went into this last home, but kept it locked in a security draw now it sits on the mantlepiece, waiting for me to find a safe place for it for it is the little bit of my mother's spirit that will one day be part of my son's wedding ring,
0
Apr 12, 2018
Apr 12, 2018 at 10:41 AM UTC
continuation
I'm an olympic housewife. My mantlepiece of medals is perfectly folded washing arranged in mahogany drawers with calm elegance like swans on a lake. I’m an elite athlete of the mundane. My scrapbook of 1st place ribbons are surfaces that sparkle a masterpiece of purity zen arrangement lust like Ikebana in an empty room. I’m an extreme sport star of domesticity. My list of world class honours gluten free bake-offs   blogging my parenting tips a domestic online celebrity like an effortless Demeter.
0
Jul 4, 2015
Jul 4, 2015 at 11:19 PM UTC
Olympic Housewife
I only shoot to **** my food Not for pride or pleasure I hunt the meat we all can eat Not for a mantlepiece treasure But late one night I was lying in bed And someone was at my door I jumped to my feet like a ninja in heat And crawled across my floor It was dark inside my livingroom But I could see a silhouette The next thing I saw took my breath It's something I'll never forget A deer was wearing a ski mask His antlers poked out the top I jumped to my feet as fast as I could And yelled, "Bambi you better stop" He turned around and began to charge I screamed for my wife to get back He pulled a knife and cut my arm With another sneak attack He chased me down the hallway The bathroom my only hope But when I tried to get inside He lassoed me with his rope He tied me up and robbed my house My wife was under the bed He went through all of our dresser drawers Her underwear on top his head He finally left, the house was a mess There were hoofprints everywhere He took the remote to our color Tv And even our silverware Before he left he pointed and laughed And called me a crazy old geezer But my wife is scared and cannot rest Until I put him in my freezer
0
Aug 31, 2010
Aug 31, 2010 at 5:52 PM UTC
Whitetail Burglar
I found I was left a mantle clock The type that you wind by key, It had stood upon my father’s shelf, Now it came down to me. Inside the clock I had found a note Scrawled in my father’s hand, ‘You never must overwind the clock For time is a shifting sand.’ That’s all that it said, that tiny note And I’d wondered what he meant, Surely he could have talked to me And made it more evident. But my father had been secretive And never would say too much, Just that his life had raced away And left him behind, and such. The end of his life had come too soon, It certainly was a shock, I found him sat alone in his chair And pointing up at the clock, It wasn’t until the afternoon I noticed the clock had stopped, Just as his heart had ceased to beat, There wasn’t a tick, or tock. I took it home and I placed it up In pride of place on the shelf, Over the wooden mantlepiece And wound the thing up myself. I just didn’t know how many times I was meant to turn the key, So probably over wound it then, Not knowing what was to be. Over the following week I found The clock had been gaining time, And thought, that’s probably what he meant, Never to over wind, I tried to adjust it back a bit To change the rate of the pawl, But found the cog was racing away And speeding up overall. No matter what I did to that clock Its speed just wouldn’t be tamed, I’d slow it down and it speeded up, I felt I was being gamed, But then I woke on a Wednesday and I thought there was something strange, The man on the news said ‘Thursday’, Like the days had been rearranged. The weeks and the months went flying by, I still kept winding that clock, Remembering how my father died, I wouldn’t have dared to stop. But then one day I forgot to wind And it slowed, and took me aback, I held the key, was about to wind When I had my heart attack. Luckily Joyce was in the room Thank god for my lovely wife, She seized the key and she wound it up And probably saved my life. I never forget to wind it now That clock’s in sync with my heart, But now my life is racing away With the clock still playing its part. David Lewis Paget
0
Aug 21, 2017
Aug 21, 2017 at 7:41 PM UTC
The Mantle Clock
I found I was left a mantle clock The type that you wind by key, It had stood upon my father’s shelf, Now it came down to me. Inside the clock I had found a note Scrawled in my father’s hand, ‘You never must overwind the clock For time is a shifting sand.’ That’s all that it said, that tiny note And I’d wondered what he meant, Surely he could have talked to me And made it more evident. But my father had been secretive And never would say too much, Just that his life had raced away And left him behind, and such. The end of his life had come too soon, It certainly was a shock, I found him sat alone in his chair And pointing up at the clock, It wasn’t until the afternoon I noticed the clock had stopped, Just as his heart had ceased to beat, There wasn’t a tick, or tock. I took it home and I placed it up In pride of place on the shelf, Over the wooden mantlepiece And wound the thing up myself. I just didn’t know how many times I was meant to turn the key, So probably over wound it then, Not knowing what was to be. Over the following week I found The clock had been gaining time, And thought, that’s probably what he meant, Never to over wind, I tried to adjust it back a bit To change the rate of the pawl, But found the cog was racing away And speeding up overall. No matter what I did to that clock Its speed just wouldn’t be tamed, I’d slow it down and it speeded up, I felt I was being gamed, But then I woke on a Wednesday and I thought there was something strange, The man on the news said ‘Thursday’, Like the days had been rearranged. The weeks and the months went flying by, I still kept winding that clock, Remembering how my father died, I wouldn’t have dared to stop. But then one day I forgot to wind And it slowed, and took me aback, I held the key, was about to wind When I had my heart attack. Luckily Joyce was in the room Thank god for my lovely wife, She seized the key and she wound it up And probably saved my life. I never forget to wind it now That clock’s in sync with my heart, But now my life is racing away With the clock still playing its part. David Lewis Paget
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65
I only shoot to **** my food Not for pride or pleasure I hunt the meat we all can eat Not for a mantlepiece treasure But late one night I was lying in bed And someone was at my door I jumped to my feet like a ninja in heat And crawled across my floor It was dark inside my livingroom But I could see a silhouette The next thing I saw took my breath It's something I'll never forget A deer was wearing a ski mask His antlers poked out the top I jumped to my feet as fast as I could And yelled, "Bambi you better stop" He turned around and began to charge I screamed for my wife to get back He pulled a knife and cut my arm With another sneak attack He chased me down the hallway The bathroom my only hope But when I tried to get inside He lassoed me with his rope He tied me up and robbed my house My wife was under the bed He went through all of our dresser drawers Her underwear on top his head He finally left, the house was a mess There were hoofprints everywhere He took the remote to our color Tv And even our silverware Before he left he pointed and laughed And called me a crazy old geezer But my wife is scared and cannot rest Until I put him in my freezer
0
Aug 28, 2010
Aug 28, 2010 at 2:10 AM UTC
The Whitetail Burglar
You are not broken, but all of the boys who want a fixer upper find you. They mistake their hips for hammers, and their kisses for nails. Their fingers, cold and impersonal, as much hoping for a crack as they are making them, find the nooks and crannies, and press caulk into them. Shine them with whispers meant to bring back the natural glow of a healthy woman. They balance their hips on yours, like that yellow bar on the mantlepiece, is the wood straight? is the construction sound? No, they whisper, no it's all wrong. Back to the drawing board, then. This time, they'll build you right, they promise. Sand down all of the splintered places where the last boys hands gave out before your corners were womanly curves. Dip your eyelashes into fresh black paint, watch it drip onto your cheek and leave it. Watch it drip down your neck and paint over it. They don't believe in luck, so they fit the curve of your hips to theirs, not meant to be, not yet, but you will be. Their hands, coarse and broad, turn your bitten, smudged lips into things straight from a ***** open and lush and beg me, baby. So you do. You use all of the words he put into your mouth like rocks: all honey and sweetie cakes and let me love you. They broke your teeth going down, but they taste like the sting of a slap coming back up. You use all of the soft places that he made on your body: let him fill them with caulk until they are unrecognizable, until you, too, are unrecognizable. You show him the constellation of scars across your shoulders: whisper do you love me now? with your hand prints wide across my spine, the sting of your sander against my waist. You teach him about desire with open legs and open lips and the tattoo of his touches on your body. You teach him about sadness with sharp, corners that are shoulder blades. He doesn't recognize those, asks himself if he missed a spot, so you show him your splintered teeth broken back burned thighs, ask him if he wants to try again. Don't wait for an answer.
0
Apr 8, 2013
Apr 8, 2013 at 11:53 PM UTC
Untitled
You are not broken, but all of the boys who want a fixer upper find you. They mistake their hips for hammers, and their kisses for nails. Their fingers, cold and impersonal, as much hoping for a crack as they are making them, find the nooks and crannies, and press caulk into them. Shine them with whispers meant to bring back the natural glow of a healthy woman. They balance their hips on yours, like that yellow bar on the mantlepiece, is the wood straight? is the construction sound? No, they whisper, no it's all wrong. Back to the drawing board, then. This time, they'll build you right, they promise. Sand down all of the splintered places where the last boys hands gave out before your corners were womanly curves. Dip your eyelashes into fresh black paint, watch it drip onto your cheek and leave it. Watch it drip down your neck and paint over it. They don't believe in luck, so they fit the curve of your hips to theirs, not meant to be, not yet, but you will be. Their hands, coarse and broad, turn your bitten, smudged lips into things straight from a ***** open and lush and beg me, baby. So you do. You use all of the words he put into your mouth like rocks: all honey and sweetie cakes and let me love you. They broke your teeth going down, but they taste like the sting of a slap coming back up. You use all of the soft places that he made on your body: let him fill them with caulk until they are unrecognizable, until you, too, are unrecognizable. You show him the constellation of scars across your shoulders: whisper do you love me now? with your hand prints wide across my spine, the sting of your sander against my waist. You teach him about desire with open legs and open lips and the tattoo of his touches on your body. You teach him about sadness with sharp, corners that are shoulder blades. He doesn't recognize those, asks himself if he missed a spot, so you show him your splintered teeth broken back burned thighs, ask him if he wants to try again. Don't wait for an answer.
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60
**Laid by the hearth in the midst of December curled up snug by the fireside nook the little dog stirs, at a settling ember and the periodic chime of the mantlepiece clock. ...   ...   ...**
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Feb 4, 2012
Feb 4, 2012 at 1:20 PM UTC
... Fireside Nook [the] ...
In each vault: a fifty pound note— How fragile our consciousness must be! From each well: an overflow of oil, Gently trickling into the village's stream. For all their wealth, no sons to be seen; No daughters frolicking across the effervescent green. Only weapons adorn their mantlepiece. No pictures of family, No memories amassed, No records for spiritual esteem.
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Jun 23, 2023
Jun 23, 2023 at 8:03 AM UTC
The Village Stream
There are ****** people in the world. There are ****** white people. There are ****** black people. There are ****** mexican people. There are ****** asian people. There are ****** short people. There are ****** tall people. There are ****** smart people. There are ****** dumb people. There are ****** people that act nice. There are ****** people that don't care. There are people on this earth that would punch a disabled child in the face in order to hear them cry. There are people that **** because nothing great was on tv. There are people that **** for money. There are people that **** for power. There are people that would **** a woman and leave her on the side of the street for someone else to deal with. There are people that would beat a child's head in just to see what's on the inside. There are religious people that do awful things. There are non religious people that do awful things. Some people would cut off a cats' paws one by one because they liked the way the purrs changed. Some people would do it regardless of the purrs. There are people that would hack off a mans testicles just to see his face after he realizes what has happened. There are people that just want something for the mantlepiece. To disagree is stupid. These people exist. Which is why it makes no sense to talk of peace. When we are clearly living in Hell.
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Dec 14, 2014
Dec 14, 2014 at 3:17 AM UTC
We are living in Hell
Growing in the greenery you criticized my wildness. Plucked me from my bush and stripped me of my thorns; On display on a mantlepiece you said, “There. That’s better.” and slowly but surely I wilted.
0
Nov 3, 2015
Nov 3, 2015 at 5:40 PM UTC
Roses Red
& AGAIN: "YES!" He stepped out of the photo stretched and gave a great yawn. He had been standing by that wall it seemed forever. The sun shone in black&white.; Outside it was night. He had never seen  his grandson who lived in colour on the mantlepiece just newly born. He strode out boldly in 3-D with the strange gait of a 2-D'er trying to put his best foot forward. It was a long long way to the photo of Tipperary and the smiling newborn boy but by God he made it. His grandson lay smiling in a shaft of sunlight that rocked him gently and gently. He stepped into the colour and turned into a nice sepia. He held his grandson against his chest smiling in Kodachrome. Then put him back in the frame. He managed to return to his own black& white as headlights travelled across the ceiling before the telephone rang and the morning awoke and sleepy feet from above went to answer it with a yawn: "Yes...yes. . ." & again: "YES!"
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Apr 7, 2016
Apr 7, 2016 at 2:58 PM UTC
& AGAIN: "YES!"
AN INCOMPLETE HISTORY OF WW2 the doodlebug cuts its silence deadlier than its whine a baby crying where there was a house there was a house no more a rocking horse survives the blast the neighbours across the road move to a place called Death "The road had a ruddy big hole with a bus sticking out of it!" Death always only a heartbeat away "1939 & I were such good friends only time Love walked in my door!" "Such a card he was but he turned out to be a cad!" "Oh he was cad but he was my cad but I loved the bounder!" "Yes, dear...the War the War got him... ...he never came back!" on the middle of mantlepiece a black & white slice of 1939 Spring is late...again "Where have you been!" shyly it smiles at me in flowers
0
Jan 25, 2019
Jan 25, 2019 at 3:34 PM UTC
AN INCOMPLETE HISTORY OF WW2
I’ve reached the point where I start to make sense of things. I think. I’m trying hard at my desk this dull June day with its pencil-grey sky promising rain. But I know in the fields the whitest wild campion has come into flower. And the vase that used to stand on the bedroom mantlepiece dropping jasmined petals into your shoes is now filled afresh by your careful hand. Oh to be better at where I am rather than where I might be. And to think beautifully, each and every moments’ minute.
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Jun 25, 2015
Jun 25, 2015 at 7:53 AM UTC
Think Beautifully
"I bagged this one out in In-di-A!" ...the braggart's boast. "It's a very rare ( these days)ALGERNON!" And indeed, an Algernon bares his teeth above the roaring fire's mantlepiece. He looked startled as he had been shot just that second. "The head is splendidly mounted complete with handlebar moustache ...& monocle. One feels that one could pop next door and there would be ha ha...the rest of Algernon sticking out the other side. The glint in the eye the sneer just so ...right. "And to the right of the Algernon is a genuine Cuthbert. Again from 1901 or there or thereabouts." "It is indeed a perfect specimen of the good old chap..." the white rhino brags yet again of what he calls his baggings. White Rhino's collection of colonials is the envy of all the other animals. "Some more hot *** old chum?" But the White Tiger puts a paw over his glass. Declines. The fire's flickering leaping up the wall. The shadow making the humans almost come alive as if the Cuthbert could turn to the Algernon and say "OH...I SAY!
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Jul 19, 2015
Jul 19, 2015 at 10:11 AM UTC
'OH, I SAY!"
the clock is ticking on the mantlepiece and the house is empty and cold it is dark, and the dogs are barking and i can't think, oh god, i can't think, because the world is imploding and the clock has stopped ticking and it has been silent for a while now there is no reason to panic,  I tell myself,  no reason at all but this is a lie and while it might help me breathe better, it won't put the bullet back inside the gun it won't force the words back down my throat, or put the glass on the floor back together the walls are on fire and the glass is sizzling, and red-hot the smell of blood - yours, probably - is thick and strong and metallic the walls are on fire and i can't think, can't even breathe, because the smell of blood is, quite frankly, overwhelming. and then i blink and i'm back here, in the kitchen, and you're staring at me like i'm something interesting, like i'm not a worthless scrap that the dog just brought in, but i can tell something's still wrong because you're talking but the words don't quite register and then everything comes spinning back to earth, and you're still talking only i can hear you now and you're telling me that it's not okay, it's not right, you've had enough and you're leaving now and it only takes me a moment to realize that the whole world is currently wearing a plaid button-down and old jeans with a hole in one of the knees that the whole world smells like apples and laundry soap it only takes me a moment to realize that the whole world resides in a three pound brain piloting rather attractive meatsuit it only takes me a moment to realize that the whole world is walking out the door and that he probably isn't coming back
0
May 13, 2013
May 13, 2013 at 11:20 PM UTC
the whole world
the clock is ticking on the mantlepiece and the house is empty and cold it is dark, and the dogs are barking and i can't think, oh god, i can't think, because the world is imploding and the clock has stopped ticking and it has been silent for a while now there is no reason to panic,  I tell myself,  no reason at all but this is a lie and while it might help me breathe better, it won't put the bullet back inside the gun it won't force the words back down my throat, or put the glass on the floor back together the walls are on fire and the glass is sizzling, and red-hot the smell of blood - yours, probably - is thick and strong and metallic the walls are on fire and i can't think, can't even breathe, because the smell of blood is, quite frankly, overwhelming. and then i blink and i'm back here, in the kitchen, and you're staring at me like i'm something interesting, like i'm not a worthless scrap that the dog just brought in, but i can tell something's still wrong because you're talking but the words don't quite register and then everything comes spinning back to earth, and you're still talking only i can hear you now and you're telling me that it's not okay, it's not right, you've had enough and you're leaving now and it only takes me a moment to realize that the whole world is currently wearing a plaid button-down and old jeans with a hole in one of the knees that the whole world smells like apples and laundry soap it only takes me a moment to realize that the whole world resides in a three pound brain piloting rather attractive meatsuit it only takes me a moment to realize that the whole world is walking out the door and that he probably isn't coming back
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28
You are the clock above the mantlepiece. You are the ticking of the hand as it draws forth my life upon threads of silver and green grass in the yard, beneath the leaves of the high tree. You are the Angel on the top of the Christmas tree. The rain of tinsel and the dew of holly on the branches as they're weighed down by Christmas eve rains and propped up by the bellies of family around it. You are the color of the grass in that time between winter and spring when nature doesn't seem to want to get out of bed for the summer days. You are the touch of velvety leather in an armchair sat in front of an open window in winter that lets in the cold air from the snowy sideyard and turns my breath to fog and to ice. You are the Clock above the mantlepiece. You are the slow drawing arm as it creeps ever forward, never quickly, towards the earth, and back in a never ceasing draw toward eternity.
0
Jul 27, 2011
Jul 27, 2011 at 10:45 AM UTC
Clocks
Don’t say a word come sit by the cool side of the bed smoothe the velvet of your dress and fix you into something you’re not an illusion that has been bought a reminiscense of this past which is nothing sober promises and wasted regrets nothing but an idle landscape to be revered alone above an empty mantlepiece irreplacable unforgettable unattainable.
0
Jul 6, 2014
Jul 6, 2014 at 1:14 PM UTC
Leaning Towards Love but Veering Off Course.
*women are like that... the chair isn’t there, no one will ever sit on it... but she still plans for the chair to be there. men are like that... the chair isn’t there, no one will ever mind the chair should it be there... and he still doesn’t consider the chair to relate to the possibility of impregnation with his *********** of the ideas she will have to eat as the prime protein... unless of course he’s forced to go against his freedom and enter her will and make god prove himself freely kinned to her will and the chair.* i love the fact that i can drink, write, watch the internet, then watch the t.v., think about the bones of imaginary ****** of my hand, switch off the t.v. write, remember the internet is static unless there’s an imput, forget that too... think of something... that’s like a surgeon’s last sight of life that’s more than a funeral mantlepiece... well that’s me... it’s un-rhymed and less classical that you might feel it might be... i want to ********** to be honest... but what’s that, sex’s a handshake?! well... with so many sorry and soapy faces i would look uncaring and clean faced to say hello un-inhibited again... again... again: i can say say it with a life... or sway saying it with a profession as an actor; your choice... ha: he who laughs last laughs true, and all interpretation comes last as first to define wages in consideration of historians - i might have said something like iodine matched up the creases.... although the creases never scented iodine... and the creases where never a wedding-dress... but skin’s leather care for aged 80 in homeric blindness: i might have... should have i doubt unless i was schooled to be the envious of a circus played... it doesn’t really matter... like poetry of girls desiring a contract and newspaper snippets of likes... for that biography of sylvia plath ending with: ‪#‎fucktartbollockshitbiographywaytoolong‬! of course... then my ironing playlist changes and i hear xednomorph’s satan’s presence... then ooo la dip d’e doo d’ah becomes a ******* that just wanted to **** on santa’s beard to hear the sunshine song of lapdancing reindeer turning lapdancing into a shave / sheering: ***** tonk thomas engineer said: plot the blues in plural for a patched up sacrifice of itchy thumbs up for the sacrament: icon for a scarce testimony - icon for a scare - pears i can juggle walking up the stairs... juggling crucifixes walking up golgotha... i can’t: if i did... i’d be a pope or a jew!
0
Nov 20, 2015
Nov 20, 2015 at 11:18 PM UTC
internet v. t.v.
*women are like that... the chair isn’t there, no one will ever sit on it... but she still plans for the chair to be there. men are like that... the chair isn’t there, no one will ever mind the chair should it be there... and he still doesn’t consider the chair to relate to the possibility of impregnation with his *********** of the ideas she will have to eat as the prime protein... unless of course he’s forced to go against his freedom and enter her will and make god prove himself freely kinned to her will and the chair.* i love the fact that i can drink, write, watch the internet, then watch the t.v., think about the bones of imaginary ****** of my hand, switch off the t.v. write, remember the internet is static unless there’s an imput, forget that too... think of something... that’s like a surgeon’s last sight of life that’s more than a funeral mantlepiece... well that’s me... it’s un-rhymed and less classical that you might feel it might be... i want to ********** to be honest... but what’s that, sex’s a handshake?! well... with so many sorry and soapy faces i would look uncaring and clean faced to say hello un-inhibited again... again... again: i can say say it with a life... or sway saying it with a profession as an actor; your choice... ha: he who laughs last laughs true, and all interpretation comes last as first to define wages in consideration of historians - i might have said something like iodine matched up the creases.... although the creases never scented iodine... and the creases where never a wedding-dress... but skin’s leather care for aged 80 in homeric blindness: i might have... should have i doubt unless i was schooled to be the envious of a circus played... it doesn’t really matter... like poetry of girls desiring a contract and newspaper snippets of likes... for that biography of sylvia plath ending with: ‪#‎fucktartbollockshitbiographywaytoolong‬! of course... then my ironing playlist changes and i hear xednomorph’s satan’s presence... then ooo la dip d’e doo d’ah becomes a ******* that just wanted to **** on santa’s beard to hear the sunshine song of lapdancing reindeer turning lapdancing into a shave / sheering: ***** tonk thomas engineer said: plot the blues in plural for a patched up sacrifice of itchy thumbs up for the sacrament: icon for a scarce testimony - icon for a scare - pears i can juggle walking up the stairs... juggling crucifixes walking up golgotha... i can’t: if i did... i’d be a pope or a jew!
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47
Let us freeze The minutes, hours and years You and I cannot reverse Let me take us Into that space that occupies Now and another place What was it how or Who was it then that cut Cheshire cat smiles on our childish faces. Ahh! The rabbit the centrepiece of this snapshot Majestic like a mantlepiece clock Your fingers on its fur My arm on your shoulder I'm the elder brother It's right, isn't it, that I'm taller. Lucky me, the light did not betray my eyes They hide within the shadows On a faded colour photo. But it's only the light That made a contrast You're glowing; Me? Oh, never mind. You and I never played Hide and seek. That game was reserved when Dad's late evening feet drew close to our door. He balancing himself against his stupor Exhaling intoxicated Dumb, gibberish in Deafening slurs. Take me back dear brother When I held us. I, the elder and you, the survivor.
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Jul 28, 2019
Jul 28, 2019 at 4:59 AM UTC
Hide and Seek
LOSING MY MARBLES The bear rears up against the cuckoo clock arms outstretched as if to catch that dammed bird when it 9 o'clocks! A tiger snoozes in front of the fire unaware of the spark that throws itself upon its tattered tail. Firelight & candlelight gleams in the beast's deadly eye. A golden eagle spreads its wings above the mantlepiece as if it would ****** the gilded frame that holds a honeymoon. I am a player of marbles upon the floor nose to the ground eyeball to eyeball with my host's tiny son. We watch in awe as the blue(slowly)yellow marble(slowly) rolls into the tiger's gaping jaws. "That doesn't count!" host's son shouts as the host snorts awake to see me with my hand in the fore mentioned jaws the tiger's tails just beginning to catch "Fire...fire! host roars throws his G&T; over the smouldering tiger. The tiger gives up the blue & yellow marble. We return to our little game. Our host pours himself into an armchair fat as he and another G&T.; I lose. The stuffed animals snigger.
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Jan 26, 2016
Jan 26, 2016 at 5:45 PM UTC
LOSING MY MARBLES
It started late on a Sunday night, The sudden rattle of pans, With nobody in the kitchen then, ‘What’s happening, Dianne?’ Dianne went pale and she looked at me ‘You’d better go down and see, Maybe we have an intruder there, Just keep him away from me.’ I went, but nobody there of course, I didn’t think there was, But two large knives on the cupboard were Arranged in a sort of cross, ‘Didn’t you put the knives away,’ I called, but she was there, Looking over my shoulder and I saw that she was scared. ‘But I haven’t used those knives for days, There’s something going on, Somebody must have sneaked in here, I tell you, this is wrong!’ I turned and I tried to comfort her, ‘There’s no-one in here now, Just someone playing a crazy trick, I’ll catch them out, somehow.’ But late that night, in the early hours The bed began to shake, Dianne woke up and she grabbed at me, ‘I think it’s a real earthquake.’ I tumbled onto the floor at that, But the floor was still and sound, Only the bed was shaking, quaking, Just above the ground. And that was only the start of it, Strange things went on for weeks, For things would fly off the table and Plates off the mantlepiece. A carving knife pinned me to the wall By the collar of my shirt, ‘I don’t think somebody likes you,’ said Dianne, ‘you might get hurt.’ Dianne had an ancient father who Was mean as the day was young, He hated me, and I used to say, ‘How did he stay unhung?’ We rarely went off to visit him As he acted like a skunk, But Dianne dragged me along at times To show a united front. Doors were slamming and windows cracking So Dianne had to shout, ‘We have to visit my father, Dean, It’s time that we went out.’ I ventured cautiously through his room And called the old boy’s name, But it was quieter than the tomb And Dianne said the same. We found him out in the laundry then, He’d fallen in the tub, Had gone a couple of spin cycles, Oh yes, and here’s the rub, One bony arm and a hand were out And pointed, looking mean, We knew then who was the poltergeist, But boy, his bones were clean. David Lewis Paget
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Nov 2, 2017
Nov 2, 2017 at 6:53 AM UTC
The Poltergeist
It started late on a Sunday night, The sudden rattle of pans, With nobody in the kitchen then, ‘What’s happening, Dianne?’ Dianne went pale and she looked at me ‘You’d better go down and see, Maybe we have an intruder there, Just keep him away from me.’ I went, but nobody there of course, I didn’t think there was, But two large knives on the cupboard were Arranged in a sort of cross, ‘Didn’t you put the knives away,’ I called, but she was there, Looking over my shoulder and I saw that she was scared. ‘But I haven’t used those knives for days, There’s something going on, Somebody must have sneaked in here, I tell you, this is wrong!’ I turned and I tried to comfort her, ‘There’s no-one in here now, Just someone playing a crazy trick, I’ll catch them out, somehow.’ But late that night, in the early hours The bed began to shake, Dianne woke up and she grabbed at me, ‘I think it’s a real earthquake.’ I tumbled onto the floor at that, But the floor was still and sound, Only the bed was shaking, quaking, Just above the ground. And that was only the start of it, Strange things went on for weeks, For things would fly off the table and Plates off the mantlepiece. A carving knife pinned me to the wall By the collar of my shirt, ‘I don’t think somebody likes you,’ said Dianne, ‘you might get hurt.’ Dianne had an ancient father who Was mean as the day was young, He hated me, and I used to say, ‘How did he stay unhung?’ We rarely went off to visit him As he acted like a skunk, But Dianne dragged me along at times To show a united front. Doors were slamming and windows cracking So Dianne had to shout, ‘We have to visit my father, Dean, It’s time that we went out.’ I ventured cautiously through his room And called the old boy’s name, But it was quieter than the tomb And Dianne said the same. We found him out in the laundry then, He’d fallen in the tub, Had gone a couple of spin cycles, Oh yes, and here’s the rub, One bony arm and a hand were out And pointed, looking mean, We knew then who was the poltergeist, But boy, his bones were clean. David Lewis Paget
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WHEN DEATH COMES, IT WILL HAVE YOUR EYES (Verrà la morte e avrà i tuoi occhi ) I once knew a man who knew a man who had seen F. Scott Fitzgerald drinking a milkshake in a drug store (vanilla or chocolate he couldn't be sure) flicking idly through a magazine ( no he didn't know which magazine ) in the company of some blonde. "I'll never forget what he said!" "Let's go to the supermarket Shelia!" he said. And that's it? "That's it!" His voice caressed each syllable as if he were on stage. But he was like a man becoming a manakin like in that episode of The Twilight Zone you know the one?" In a future that had as yet to happen. "I don't know what I had expected..." The man who knew the man who knew the man who had seen and heard F. Scott Fitzgerald. "Maybe a Gatsby or a Gatsby who had survived the novel's tragic ending and wished he hadn't!" *** Here now at home Mr. Fitzgerald sits in his armchair eating a chocolate bar checking out next year's Princeton football team. suddenly like a puppet yanked on a string he stands up hand on mantlepiece like some bad acting in a silent movie before falling to the floor. He will never get up. *** Nick and Gatsby come stand by his dying. So do Monroe Stahr and Kathleen Moore even though words fail them. Yet they now more real than he. Monroe reads some last scribbled lines. "There was a flutter from the wings of God and you lay dead. Your  books were in your desk I guess and some unfinished chaos in your head was dumped to nothing by the great janitress of destinies." Gatsby closes his eyes.
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Jul 24, 2019
Jul 24, 2019 at 5:50 PM UTC
WHEN DEATH COMES, IT WILL HAVE YOUR EYES (Verrà la morte e avrà i tuoi occhi )
WHEN DEATH COMES, IT WILL HAVE YOUR EYES (Verrà la morte e avrà i tuoi occhi ) I once knew a man who knew a man who had seen F. Scott Fitzgerald drinking a milkshake in a drug store (vanilla or chocolate he couldn't be sure) flicking idly through a magazine ( no he didn't know which magazine ) in the company of some blonde. "I'll never forget what he said!" "Let's go to the supermarket Shelia!" he said. And that's it? "That's it!" His voice caressed each syllable as if he were on stage. But he was like a man becoming a manakin like in that episode of The Twilight Zone you know the one?" In a future that had as yet to happen. "I don't know what I had expected..." The man who knew the man who knew the man who had seen and heard F. Scott Fitzgerald. "Maybe a Gatsby or a Gatsby who had survived the novel's tragic ending and wished he hadn't!" *** Here now at home Mr. Fitzgerald sits in his armchair eating a chocolate bar checking out next year's Princeton football team. suddenly like a puppet yanked on a string he stands up hand on mantlepiece like some bad acting in a silent movie before falling to the floor. He will never get up. *** Nick and Gatsby come stand by his dying. So do Monroe Stahr and Kathleen Moore even though words fail them. Yet they now more real than he. Monroe reads some last scribbled lines. "There was a flutter from the wings of God and you lay dead. Your  books were in your desk I guess and some unfinished chaos in your head was dumped to nothing by the great janitress of destinies." Gatsby closes his eyes.
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mother, your 8.48 touch cloys and i shut the door on us. it was never hard for me to leave you in your lock-up. behind the hardened walls your third goblet of watered tears slips down smooth and clean and you love it like you love to hurt. you self sustain for the next slow day. it helps you put on the creatress - a black-curtained frenzy of contradiction. you are yourself on yourself the snake that bites its own tail. but we dismiss the darkness of it when what you produce is so bright. when you beg the ugliness you **** you the most beautiful flowers grow where you fell. i put them in a vase on my mantlepiece for guests to admire. it is what you want.
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Oct 19, 2015
Oct 19, 2015 at 5:22 AM UTC
Mother
My Uncle sleeps with pursed lips as if kissed by a dream. Perched upon this kiss a butterfly sits as if an Uncle's lips were the most natural place for a butterfly to rest or as if it were an illustration of the soul (a symbol) in a magical book that explained such things. Outside the trees breathe gently inhaling & exhaling a soft whisper of wind. Bees carve a map out of the air for other bees to see. Out on a limb two birds sit & chit chat. A fox(unseen) passes by as if it had never been. A big big bug topples off the top of a tiny stone onto its back wriggling its arms & legs as if it were trying to swim through the currents of its fear. One of the gossiping birds sees him as a tasty treat. Eats him. Inside the house's El Greco shadows a kitten exploring the newness of the world it finds itself in jumps onto the sleeping statue of an Uncle with a butterfly perched upon its lips. Kitten tumbles ooops into my Uncle's crotch before climbing the moutainside that is his chest. Takes a swipe at the soul pretending to be a butterfly just as my Uncle awakens to this reality & his soul flits just out of reach between the fireplace & the mantlepiece.
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Mar 26, 2015
Mar 26, 2015 at 9:37 AM UTC
THE SOUL GOES FOR A STROLL
It was late in the morning when I got up, bleary eyed staggering there were wine bottles empty everywhere boy that was a night to remember, I swear I looked around and could not find my love my battle harden sweet rose of fury I screamed, where is she waking my kin and company Seeing the look in their guilty eyes I knew she had gone on a mission there was a letter on the mantlepiece but with eyes of black cold storms I walked out on my own cursing their eyes I knew she wanted to impress but to do this whist in battle rest if I had not been so ****** drunk I would of dusted down the mantlepiece By Christos Andreas Kourtis aka NeonSolaris
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Aug 18, 2014
Aug 18, 2014 at 3:56 PM UTC
Dusting Down The Mantlepiece