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Three plus One
Mar. 12th, 2010 04:54 pmMaybe they're all about love after all.
RESCUED (Horace Odes 1:5)
Which under-muscled, over-perfumed boy
is groping you on roses in your love-nest,
Pyrrha? Who's inspired you to wash and cut
your honey-colored hair like this?
God knows how many times he'll curse
the bad luck that made him love you,
and be flabbergasted by the force tens
blackening your little sea.
The idiot. He drinks your sunshine down
and thinks the wind will never change.
Those miserable men. You dazzle them
but no one ever ties up in your harbor.
As for me, you can read my story
on the temple wall: just another rescued
sailor who has offered up his sodden boots
to the great god of the sea.
- Mark Haddon
The Jerk
Hey you, dragging the halo-
how about a holiday in the islands of grief?
Tongue is the word I wish to have with you.
Your eyes are so blue they leak.
Your legs are longer than a prisoner's
last night on death row.
I'm filthier than the coal miner's bathtub
and nastier than the breath of Charles Bukowski.( Read more... )
Lift Your Right Arm
Lift your right arm, she said.
I lifted my right arm.
Lift your left arm, she said.
I lifted my left arm. Both of my arms were up.
Put down your right arm, she said.
I put it down.
Put down your left arm, she said.
I did.
Lift your right arm, she said.
I obeyed.
Put down your right arm.
I did.
Lift your left arm.
I lifted it.
Put down your left arm.
I did.
Silence. I stood there, both arms down, waiting for her next
command. After a while I got impatient and said, what next.
Now it's your turn to give the orders, she said.
All right, I said. Tell me to lift my right arm.
Peter Cherches
Failing and Flying
Everyone forgets that Icarus also flew.
It's the same when love comes to an end,
or the marriage fails and people say
they knew it was a mistake, that everybody
said it would never work. That she was
old enough to know better. But anything
worth doing is worth doing badly.( Read more... )
I believe Icarus was not failing as he fell,
but just coming to the end of his triumph.
by Jack Gilbert
RESCUED (Horace Odes 1:5)
Which under-muscled, over-perfumed boy
is groping you on roses in your love-nest,
Pyrrha? Who's inspired you to wash and cut
your honey-colored hair like this?
God knows how many times he'll curse
the bad luck that made him love you,
and be flabbergasted by the force tens
blackening your little sea.
The idiot. He drinks your sunshine down
and thinks the wind will never change.
Those miserable men. You dazzle them
but no one ever ties up in your harbor.
As for me, you can read my story
on the temple wall: just another rescued
sailor who has offered up his sodden boots
to the great god of the sea.
- Mark Haddon
The Jerk
Hey you, dragging the halo-
how about a holiday in the islands of grief?
Tongue is the word I wish to have with you.
Your eyes are so blue they leak.
Your legs are longer than a prisoner's
last night on death row.
I'm filthier than the coal miner's bathtub
and nastier than the breath of Charles Bukowski.( Read more... )
Lift Your Right Arm
Lift your right arm, she said.
I lifted my right arm.
Lift your left arm, she said.
I lifted my left arm. Both of my arms were up.
Put down your right arm, she said.
I put it down.
Put down your left arm, she said.
I did.
Lift your right arm, she said.
I obeyed.
Put down your right arm.
I did.
Lift your left arm.
I lifted it.
Put down your left arm.
I did.
Silence. I stood there, both arms down, waiting for her next
command. After a while I got impatient and said, what next.
Now it's your turn to give the orders, she said.
All right, I said. Tell me to lift my right arm.
Peter Cherches
Failing and Flying
Everyone forgets that Icarus also flew.
It's the same when love comes to an end,
or the marriage fails and people say
they knew it was a mistake, that everybody
said it would never work. That she was
old enough to know better. But anything
worth doing is worth doing badly.( Read more... )
I believe Icarus was not failing as he fell,
but just coming to the end of his triumph.
by Jack Gilbert
