Wednesday, 1 June 2011

Armchair, a poem by Adam White, poet

One, wine stained armrest, right hand side,
Where, shakily, you hold the glass.
You sip, recall that long lost night,
That first taste you hold to the last.
His name was something forgotten,
Two or three gorgeous syllables
Slipping off your tongue and then gone,
Running the wild way of the bulls,
Thundering through streets screaming out,
Tortured by their poor upbringing,
Smashed on cheap, two-quid, crap cider,
Bellowing, debasing, singing.
His hand was both warm and searching.
Autumnal air at the park,
Just out of school, dumb, rebelling,
Grass blades itching your shameful arse.

Subtle subtext pours through your words
"The best (the first) I ever had."
Such reassurance for the birds,
He'd never answer your calls and
Pink cheeked, feeling foolish and flushed
You'd never trust a boy again
(Convincing yourself you were pushed,
Placing fault where you'd need not blame
For every blind drunk, lone hook-up
With some Breezer wielding nobhead
Who'd talk about his dick at length,
But shagged like a dog long dead.)
You spill a little more wine now.
Wipe it from your lap with your hand,
Wrinkled and rough sun-bed leather
The colour of coffee-stained sand.

One bedroom flat, small kitchenette,
Bath and shower in the same place,
Piss stained toilet due to neglect,
Make-up trails on the sink and your face.
Coils of alcohol rise from it.
The bed stinks of stale cigarettes,
The last man long gone from your side,
His pillow holds no shampoo scent,
No impression in the mattress,
No body lies in it's stiff folds,
An unmade, unwashed, filth-marked mess,
Left depressing, barren and cold.
Sleeping, the light from the TV
Seems to hit you just right and you're
Sixteen again, all youth and beauty,
Trapped in a body run down and poor.

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11 comments:

  1. I felt dirty just reading this.
    Loved these lines: "Two or three gorgeous syllables
    Slipping off your tongue and then gone" thats just yum.

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  2. So good...I put your banner on my blog! Never disappointed with my visit here~nor is my imagination~ lol Another awesome post, poet!

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  3. those last 3 lines are the follow through on the knuckle punch...vivid and great oneshot...

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  4. Brilliant Adam, I always wanted to ask you where your inspiration comes from, just from people watching? But reading this and I agree, the last three lines are genius, I don't think I want to ask that any more! :D

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  5. Wow you make the mind conjure up images straight through
    Not sure some are wanted to be true
    As the toilet just made me feel dirty I must say
    But a great read it was here at your way
    Agree with the rest
    The last three lines really put this to the test

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  6. This is life, and life is poetry.

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  7. Cutting and spirited. A great write with a killer closing.

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  8. i wish there were words to depict the level of pain, depth, emotion and reality you so achingly yet artistically convey...but when i can feel the aching, smell the agony, taste the pain...a broken woman "sixteen and all the youth and beauty, trapped in a body run down and poor"...how many people know this woman, sleeping with the light from the tv shining down on their hopelessness...and for all those who will read your poem and know all too well your stinging words are also an awakening...

    as i said before pain is not weakness, rather an awareness...

    you have exposed life's most vulnerable aspects of neediness...

    great write...

    sincerely,

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  9. Whoa I could smell the scene - very strong poem :)

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  10. Adam...what can I say? You took my breath away with the gut reality of this scene, every detail clearly showing and feeling the void of this person's life - and at the end, you smashed us in the face with the 16 years...a virtual child. This baby hit home; this was me, when I was 16. More than forty years later, I read this and ache. It's so vivid and so true. But the killer line that crushes (only sixteen) is also the light of hope (only sixteen) because one day, if she doesn't kill herself first, she'll learn and start all over again. Your handling of the inner dialogue where she justifies and denies reality was particularly good (the best, the first; convincing you were pushed) and the way you mixed thoughts with objects, and produced feelings - wow. Question: the line: "Last man gone from her side" who is "her"? In the rest of the poem you are speaking directly to the girl, but then this line appears to switch to third person, unless her is referring to someone else. Was that intended? I got confused there.

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  11. No, it was not intentional and has been changed now. Heehee. Thank you for pointing that out for me. Little things sometimes get missed in the edit :S

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