The Foundlings

about what happened

Houses do not speak, flats rise and the street

smells of boiled cabbage, women in big floral aprons

smoke in pain, Verdun faces.

Children without anchor lay silent on doorsteps, 

they have cradles of newspapers,flyers and milkbottles.

I want to take a big pencil, and scribble over the picture.

The sun crashes before my car, the women glance over,

curious, unashamed as the smoke elegantly,  arms crossed

and supporting their other elbows,they have eyes

narrow with bad light and washing-up liquid.

I wish I had a button on my arm to end my life painlessly,

and that all the people who need me didn`t care too much,

but as it is I turn my car and drive, pictures through

the windscreen flickering, as if it is an old re-run with

dubbed laughter, nothing to like much. 

Reviews

[...]

I have felt this way in my life. You put it into words for me as if you had once read my mind

[Droll Prole]

Another great poem full of feeling and imagery.

[J. J. Nightingale]

We all feel that hair trigger response .. Wow, children without anchors .. We pass by the same world every day , and life becomes hum-drum .. And we find ourselves gazing blindly away, looking for an escape ..
Wow, this has depth .. I like !!

Jasmine ..

[BMColey]

wow...very deep piece that got me thinking about myself and thats when I know its a good poem lol

[Audrey Howitt]

This is such an elegant write about a hard--scrapping kind of life--which has its own elegance perhaps. My favorite line--

the women glance over,
curious, unashamed as the smoke elegantly, arms crossed
and supporting their other elbows,they have eyes
narrow with bad light and washing-up liquid.

I think I grew up seeing such women and feeling the elegance of their hardness

[Maria.F.T]

I can see the picture captured in this poem. I love it, it is so lovely :)

[Wolf's Dark Song]

This is like a candid view of life, the bad parts we just want to make good away and as it's not so easy to escape our lives we go on and hopefully look for some good things in it. This is a really really good poem. I like it.

[Eve]

The first two stanzas in this are beyond brilliant, the image of the women is so strong, stanza four gives us the feeling of futility of the situation there, and then we are resigned in the last stanza, excellent poetry!

[...]

"I wish I had a button on my arm to end my life painlessly
and that all the people who need me didn`t care too much"

. these are rather powerful lines in this powerful piece ... i know this feeling ... it takes a lot of effort and a high degree of consciousness to transcend it ... and then stay there ... i'm glad the narrator of this piece decided to drive off instead ... when readers like me read, they're likely to think that even if things are rough ... one should drive off ... and stay alive ... perhaps that's why the button doesn't exist ... just my thoughts on this powerful piece ...

[Neva Flores Smith - Cha..]

Sometimes life is not beautiful and perhaps even heartbreaking....you have painted this image brilliantly. Thank you for this one Leslie.