Once Works Well was pure technology. Now it seeks merely to divert.
Pansy subjects - Verse! Opera! Domestic trivia! - are now commonplace.
The 300-word limit for posts is retained. The ego is enlarged

Sunday 8 May 2011

The private place


Diane: in hospital and later
I would not have you prone, my dear, but up
And wiping plates, sharp-tongued, close at my side,
A kitchen critic, keen to laugh and slap
My washing-up techniques with woe betide.

Up from that narrow bed, to join lobelias
And ericas that may, we’re told, replace
Expensive box; then facing irises -
An auburn glow in cultivated space.

Dear, prone in bed is really not your bit,
For when you said “Well X is just a prat.”
Your head and shoulders helped augment the wit.
Down there they’re mute and now the wit is flat.

That was then. I wash dishes on my own
Untouched by auburn glow, the light quite flown.

8 comments:

Professional Bleeder said...

Much better - I would have cried

The Crow said...

This loving tribute touches a place in my heart that hasn't been touched for too long a time.

The poetry that comes from your heart is your best work, BB. The photo you posted here adds to the poignancy of your words.

Unknown said...

Deep feeling beautifully contained.

Anne said...

What a sad activity--washing dishes alone. What a lovely, accessible quirky poem.

herhimnbryn said...

From your heart, I have no doubt.

Rouchswalwe said...

The depth that is to be found in everyday activities when shared.

Roderick Robinson said...

All: Something curious emerged. Diane was Mrs BB's sister, my sister-in-law. Mrs BB is quite free to read or ignore Works Well but on this occasion she read the sonnet and told me she liked it. It was only then that I realised the sonnet was addressed quite specifically to her. And yet I was completely unaware of this while I was putting it together and for an hour or two after I had posted. Odd, that.

Roderick Robinson said...

All: Sorry, my comment wasn't at all clear. The sonnet is clearly addressed to Diane; what I meant to say was that the subsconsciously intended audience was Mrs BB.