Identical enemies

Jobbe
Jobbe Posts: 20
edited August 2005 in Poetry, Prose, Music & Art
-Call it intuition, he said

Face lit up like an old match
From a moth-eaten matchbox
His unfoundedly calm eyes
Waiting for an A Ok
I wondered if he was serious, real

-Call it conviction, he added

He was too old to talk in these days
Too locked up in the cell he once picked
And was respected for
And sought for
He seemed kind, though
Not a bad man, not the man you'd despise
But a person being so off the track, makes you wonder
What's in that head of his?

-Call it some sort of divine intervention, he concluded

I wanted to touch his skin
It would be dead and cold, I thought
Or my fingers would slip right through
His black robe, tight white collar
And that tasteless necklace
Hanging like a weighing stone from his wrinkled neck
He was the interlude of an ancient circus show
His own reflection would break him, someday
Then again, maybe never
He was smiling, in pity, in omniscience
And so was I
In there, we were identical enemies...
Post edited by Unknown User on

Comments

  • FinsburyParkCarrots
    FinsburyParkCarrots Seattle, WA Posts: 12,223
    "I wanted to touch his skin
    It would be dead and cold, I thought
    Or my fingers would slip right through
    His black robe, tight white collar
    And that tasteless necklace
    Hanging like a weighing stone from his wrinkled neck
    He was the interlude of an ancient circus show
    His own reflection would break him, someday
    Then again, maybe never
    He was smiling, in pity, in omniscience
    And so was I
    In there, we were identical enemies..."



    This is my favourite bit.
  • Jobbe
    Jobbe Posts: 20
    Glad you like it :)
    Although, I'm not really sure if the setting and the plot come clear enough through the lines... Did you figure out what's going on, Fins? Not that it's a difficult puzzle, I was just wondering :)
  • EvilToasterElf
    EvilToasterElf Posts: 1,119
    As usual I'll echo what Fins said, I think this poem really finds it's power in that last section, great poem, no need for explanation, it has the perfect power of vagueness and reveals the secrets one at a time. I liked it immensely

Categories