Verse (second, if not third, division poetry) should never be explained but this sonnet deserves a word or two. A week ago I met Plutarch at The Blogger’s Retreat and subsequently posted my travel itinerary. But a fortnight before that I was invited to a more populous BR event to meet Lucy and her sister, Plutarch and his brother. Unfortunately this was on a Friday when both Mrs BB and I seek to develop our intellect in other ways. However I envisaged a high-charged, ribald lunch on The Aldwych at which I would be represented by what you read below.
Alas Lucy and her sister were forestalled from attending. Because I come from the West Riding and cannot abide waste I am forced to post these lines without legitimate reason.
Sonnet – Retreat from The Retreat
It suits me well, the role of absentee.
One mention, then perhaps a genteel cough;
Soon lost in bouncing waves of repartee
And swallowed by a curried bellylaugh.
Vacant and mute, I’m so much better than
My prying, hurtful, low reality.
A void instead of foghorn Yorkshireman
My views a trailer of eternity.
For I was born to tap and stare and wait,
For you to stop and let me in edgewise.
Think of the bonus that my empty plate
Has wrought. Think of a use for unused sighs.
I am the un-sat chair, untrammelled chat,
The unshared chutney, Erwin's twin-state cat
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9 comments:
BB! This one read at a quick clip. The last two lines had me laughing out loud ... but who is Erwin?
It seems even sharper when I read it the second time round, and the final couplet justifies your addiction to this particular sonnet form.
I had to laugh. You are both funny and skillful and I'm sure a treat to know in person, in spite of what you say.
RW (zS): Schrödinger, the man who carelessly enraged cat-lovers round the globe. Seeking to explain the apparent paradox of quantum theory, he cited an imaginary box in which an imaginary cat could be - theoretically - both dead and alive. Various people, some of whom comment on this blog, accused him of wanton cruelty.
Plutarch: "Chutney" makes all the difference.
Hattie: That's a very dangerous premise.
Answer to your comment over at my place.
This time, I'm glad to see that I'm not in a pickle.
An unbelievable vw "pububl"
This time, I'm glad to see that I'm not in a pickle.
An unbelievable vw "pububl"
Look, I know it wasn't a real cat, honestly I do, I'm not that daft and sentimental you know. It's Seligman's dog that really bothers me, because that was real and tortured and for a spurious cause and bad science... oh here I go again.
Anyway, I'm sorry to keep missing you at the BR, I look forward to sharing chutney and possibly even poppadoms with you one day...
Lucy: I'm not entirely sure I had you in mind when I wrote what you take to be my felinophile-ophobe comment, although I do dimly recall some argy-bargy on the topics. A more prominent reference point was a cat-loving woman I knew while I was still in work and who would scream irrationally if anyone used the phrase "room to swing a cat". I am pretty sure she would have reacted similarly to Erwin's thesis.
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