Messrs Jenkins and Jones

The first piece that I have written in months. I hope it is ok!

One: Breakfast Gossip

 

Mrs Jenkins and Mrs Jones ran away together,

Leaving Messrs Jenkins and Jones-

To their own devices.”

 

God,

You say so little,

Yet you speak so much!

Chitter, chatter, chatter, chatter,

Fool!

I shall beg �"

Sit, say nothing.

Sitting pretty!

“Silently?”

Good God, yes!

I shall read my sports page-

You can look antique.

 

...........

 

“Surely you must?

Surely you should have heard?”

 

“I have heard nothing,

I shall always know nothing,

I shall remain the fool.”

 

Two: The Battle for Church Graveyards

 

As a little boy-

I would build a vantage point,

With antique jewellery, marble gates,

Church graveyards, minarets,

Coffee cups, broken saucers,

Odds, ends, sand castles

And castanets.

 

­­­Yet I have seen nothing.

Lord I know nothing!

 But,

The sun rises- the sun sets.

Between that moment and its realisation-

I sleep as one of the stuffed men.

I shall lick my wounds-

The red badge of courage adorned upon my breast.

 

(Some say the world will end in fire,
Some say in ice.)

 

“Heavenly father,

Welcome me to eternal rest.

My world ends-

Neither in fire or ice.

And despite all that I have tasted and desired,

It won’t end with a bang upon the wave of a whimper.”

 

 

“Heavenly father,

Take me I am yours,

I have been buried already,

Amongst sand and fallen minarets.

“One of the stuffed men,

One of the hollow men,”

Above all one of the unlucky men.”

 

Three: T o Look Away

 

(It has been said of us before-)

 

Do you remember?

We were vulgar
little children.

Bathed in moonlight,
Your beautiful face-
So ugly with stars pockmarked
Across your skin.
You sang for me,

(Hark hark the dogs,
Do bark. The beggars are coming to town,
Some in rags and some in jags,
And one in a velvet gown.)

 

Let us not gesticulate any longer.

You are still a pretty little girl.

Face framed in soft red curls.

But you aren’t the little girl I once knew.

Perhaps.....

 

“Of course I have doffed my cap,

To a host of rich men’s follies,

Come a girl has to eat.”

 

 

But where was I?

 

“And a girl must have a roof over her head.

So what if I gave a little pleasure?

It was only for money after all...

Being pretty does help-

I still look in the mirror.

Don’t tell me I had, “ways out,”

Where were you?”

 

Looking away I would hazard at a guess.

 

..............

 

“Surely you must?

Surely you should have heard?”

 

“I have heard nothing.

I know nothing.

I remain the fool.”

 

Four: Swallowed

 

This shall be the way our empire falters.......

 

“I am looking away.”

 

Through vanity,

Through decadence.

“Goodnight, goodnight.”

I shall yell from my grave

Of sandcastles and castanets.

“We in the West have come East,

We in the West have been swallowed.”

Why? How? What for?

Vanity!

Vanity!

Dear ladies, dear children for vanity.

 

I feel immeasurably at peace.

 

This shall be the way our empire falters.......

 

All for vanity.

We came, we saw-

And we were swallowed.

How the sand and stone

Welcomed us into their bosoms.

 

How we have bred confusion!

Mother, mother!

Sing to me.

Goodnight!

Goodnight!

 

 

Five: A Nursery rhyme for what it’s worth.

 

(Jack and Jill went up the hill...

Jack fell down...

And Jill came tumbling after.)

 

I admit!

I have dragged myself by

Upon your coat tails.

You left me broken images that

I have turned into pockets-

Of dust.

Don’t fear!

I tried to piece them together

It was to be frank with you,

Impossible!

 

 

Six: Memoriam

 

In memorandum!

 

“Didn’t you hear?

Don’t you care?

Regulus lost his son

And his son lost a father before him!

 

Mrs Jenkins and Mrs Jones ran away together,

Leaving Messrs Jenkins and Jones-

To their own devices.”

 

Silence please!

 

“Kitty O’Shea ran off with Parnell,

Leaving the Parnellites  to face off

Against the Anti-Parnellites.

All in all disastrous,

For the Home Rulers.”

 

Enough Politics,

I’ve had more than

Enough!

 

 “But don’t you care?”

 

I do not!

 

“Surely you must?
Surely you should have heard?”
No I’m sorry that is just not true.

 

But don’t you care?”

 

Enough please sit

Look antique!

Repeat after me-

 

“I have heard nothing,

I shall know nothing,

I will always remain the fool.”

 

We shall remain happy,

Provided you say nothing,

Know nothing.

Love nothing or no one.

 

Repeat after me-

 

“I have heard nothing,

I shall know nothing,

I will always remain the fool.”

 

 

Author's Note

Constructive destruction please!

Reviews

[heido]

“Heavenly father,
Welcome me to eternal rest.
My world ends-
Neither in fire or ice.
And despite all that I have tasted and desired,
It won’t end with a bang upon the wave of a whimper.”

^ Lovely.
Your writing is satire, which keeps someone such as myself very interested. I feel as though I could never walk this poetic road with you, that I can only watch, which I also enjoy. Writing poetry must be done for the self, for it's emotion to be translated correctly. I love your honesty and your willingness to stand not outside the box but directly ontop of it so it knows, you are no longer inside and refuse to forget whence you came.

[Chirinos20]

wow! wow! wow! This is a great piece of art. It hold me true to the last second. Some of the verses are just amazing. I could only hope to write like this. Keep on writing for you have true talent. very very very good job!

[Ross]

Odd, but interesting

[Jane Doe]

Woah! So like this is esquiste(i tink dats how u spell it srry if i am wrong)
its very moving and very insperational i like it A LOT like seriously its awesome i mean there is no right word to descibe perfect but this is the closest poem to perfect i have seen I LOVE IT!!!!!!
luv ya
luv it A LOT
abbie

[ashley]

I love this. I like the brevity of the lines, it really helps convey the natural language you write in. I always appreciate that much more than long flowery lines about nothing. Maybe, shortening it a bit could help, just don't compromise what you're writing so it has more popular appeal. Your writing has that no matter the length. Great Stuff : )

[Preston]

its confusing, but good(: very beaituful writing!

[Tate Morgan]

I read this piece through twice I see sections topped by brilliant thought and others fill the difference.Yet I see something grand in you .I would say cut it shorter to the point and leave out the stuff that doesn't really gel.Only use the genius work throw the rest aside .It makes for a more coherent thought and point .You are touched by a magic i have felt a time or two myself now learn to control it
tate

[mystic soul]

i agree with sahar.... your writing style is pretty unique... and that's what makes your poetry worth reading... this was full of so many emotions... and the way you wrote , helps readers to connect with it... good read...

[Alicante lullaby]

your style of writing,its queer,sad and unique,catchy i would say,little pieces so witty,it is as if you drag the reader into another world,short phrases,small worlds in them,its like sparkling bits of sand,so descriptive,i loved the use of refrences and the acrid bitterness,the ice and the snow,one of the very best was the collection part [as a little boy],it had a great deal of sarcastic touch to it,a bit of your heroes too,as you pictured the hectic rottenness of life,the pedagogy one creeps into,the loss of innocence in the epochs of time,comparing it with the end of time,the last ''i have heard nothing,i shall know nothing,i will always remain the fool''reminds me of an Arabic Quranic verse''they cannot hear,they cant speak,their hearts are branded''i loved it,its pure meditation,i would read it again,dont know whether i will get it,,,