Pendulum

[Jerrybaldy]

It's frigid in the field of the ghost trees.
The furrows concealed,
in a corrugated winter cloak.
The stick guides him back to his home.
His back a frozen slab, his slack skin
an invitation to the frost.
He reaches the well worn door
and enters the sadistic warmth.
10 a.m above the pendulum,
as always upon his return.
The velvet crush of the winged chair
spotted black with spits of fire.
The decanter with its fire inside
and the beauty of repitition.
Head against the wing,
fire water, wetting and heating
his leathered dry phlegm throat.
He thinks of the ghosts
of the past of this room
his wife, his father, his mother.
He lifts the checked flap of his pocket
and reaches for the tablets inside.
The door opens, she is home,
sweet Tessa, so adoring of old bones,
for her very sweet hope to inherit.
He pops his blue pill with his whisky,
undoes his trousers,
as he does at 10.10.
He awaits her sweet hand
to follow the old rhythm
of the pendulum.

[hillwalker]

Not Tess of the D'Urbervilles then.....

I was expecting an assisted suicide until the 'blue pill' put in an appearance.

This bears your familiar style of wonderful imagery followed by a punch in the solar plexus. I loved 'The furrows concealed, / in a corrugated winter cloak.' and 'the decanter with its fire inside'.

I'm just wondering whether the last 5 lines could have been inferred by more subtle means in keeping with the rest of such an atmospheric poem.

H

[Fegger]

This is beautiful--breathtaking, actually--wonderful imagery.

I'm not entirely in accord with 'hill...' on the last five lines, but I do see a bit of a wrinkle (personal preference, mind you) in, "he awaits her sweet hand to follow the old rhythm". While I liked, 'sweet hope...', returning with 'sweet hand' seemed like a compromise; and 'follow the old rhythm'---instead of 'follow', I was thinking of something that projected more unity; with 'old rhythm', perhaps 'familiar'(synonym)...with 'rhythm', maybe something audible is more of what I was thinking because this would invite an alternate sense, other than vision, and bring me to the moment.

Very remarkable piece!

[PrinceMyshkin]

It's a compelling poem - and a decidedly strange one finally. Are we really meant to understand the ending as the regular "hand-job" that Tessa has been giving him every day for years now at 10:10? If so, I don't fully understand the mood that precedes this, almost as if this were a chore he submits to for her sake...

And if it is what I inferred, what am I to make of the pendulum? Implicitly it was in some other position before it arrived where it is now, but where was that?

[Haunted]

Isn't 10.10 the time they set all the new watches? Very symbolic but of what (putting on my thinking cap). Oh, what does he do before he comes home at 10am?

I love "The furrows concealed / in a corrugated winter cloak" as well. Another great one, "He reaches the well worn door / and enters the sadistic warmth." I lived in an apartment that was exactly that.

The whole poem again is filled with engaging imageries, especially the unmistakable symbolism of the pendulum. What an ending! Enjoyed it very much.

[Delta40]

i'm struck by:

The velvet crush of the winged chair
spotted black with spits of fire.
The decanter with its fire inside
and the beauty of repitition.


I wonder if you have ruined it with the cheesy ending however, saying that, it is a skill to lull your audience into one mode of thinking only to reveal their appropriate response to what they are reading (or seeing) is not what they thought. In this, Jerry you are undoubtedly a master!

There is a subtle relationship between the swinging pendulum and a limp appendage....but that is only an impression.