I ... entered the poem of life, whose purpose is ... simply to witness the beauties of the world, to discover the many forms that love can take. (Barabara Blackman in 'Glass After Glass')

These poems are works in progress and may be updated without notice. Nevertheless copyright applies to all writings here and all photos (which are either my own or used with permission). Thank you for your comments. I read and appreciate them all, and reply here to specific points that seem to need it — or as I have the leisure. Otherwise I reciprocate by reading and commenting on your blog posts as much as possible.

2 March 2012

Buggered

‘I’m buggered!’ he said, as he buried his head
in his arms on the table. I am unable
to move or speak or even groan.
Help me someone, don’t leave me alone
paralysed here. Shit, pour me a beer
and then I may rouse to take just a sip,
a purely medicinal wetting of my lip.

But they all ignored the poor drunken sod,
left him alone on his own: his bod
sunken down on the wooden pew,
his brain wandering in a fog, or a stew ...
till morning arrived at last with the dawn
as it usually does — first light of the sun
staining the sky a beautiful red.

They looked for him then. He had not been to bed.
He was still in the pub, revived, looking for grub.
‘I’m not buggered any more!’ he yelled from the floor
(where he had fallen the night before)
as his unworried friends ambled in the door.
Then he shook his fist and out he staggered.
His mates in chorus said, 'Well, I'll be buggered!'

This dissertation on a good old Aussie expression was written in response to a prompt during a WordsFlow session in November last year. I just rediscovered it in my files and decided I like it. (Last line rewritten 31 March 2012.)

I'm submitting it for Poets United's Poetry Pantry #89 and dVerse Translucent Poetics: Writing Spoken Word. (Humorous, rhyming verse goes down well in performance.)

8 comments:

  1. Funny! Yes, rhyme and humor are two staples of spoken word! Thanks for sharing!

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  2. Oh, that was quick! Thanks for your comment. :)

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  3. It would be fun to hear you read this.

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  4. Well bugger me..this is not bad verse for an aussie sheila..ripper,mate!

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  5. Poor bugger, what unworthy friends he has. Thank you for highlighting his cause!

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  6. I'm so glad you all appreciate it — and I particularly like Cressida's high praise, and Dave's deep understanding of the social issues here. ;)

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  7. I'd really like to hear you read this Rosemary ... I might not grasp some of the subtleties of the Aussie humour and language but I love the poem ...

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  8. The language isn't all that subtle, actually! :-D

    Glad you enjoyed.

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