Sunday, May 23, 2010

THE MAN WHOSE HEAD EXPLODED!





This weeks Poetry Bus is being beautifully driven by Teressa , clicky on the linky for details of how to hop on board HERE


Don't let the bus run out of road,MORE DRIVERS REQUIRED.
JUST PUT YOUR NAME/ PSEUDONYM in the comments box and the keys will be all yours. Think of the POWER!

Here is my response to Teressa's fabulosa picture.



THE MAN WHOSE HEAD EXPLODED


Thinking.
That’s a journey you don’t want to take
Stick to the familiar
Watch Eastenders, Or
Take up knife fighting
Thinking takes you out of your depth
Stay in the shallow end of thought


an umbilical cord to bring you back
Thought is a poetry death wish
Your minds eye a microscope
Poised above the Petri dish
Watching a million things divide and multiply

Can you try this jacket on for size
See how it wraps you tight
Saves you from yourself?
Think of it as a life jacket
No strings attached
Except of course that there ARE strings attached
Padded walls? Suits you sir!

So the thoughts collide and bounce and bark
Like Pavlov’s dog each time your alarm bell rings
Whispers shout louder than things
That go bump in the night
More fragile than you might think,
Than you might…imagine
And then the answers, Oh ! The answers.
A billion bacteria for each amoeba.
Musical crescendo disjointed
That’s when your head,
that dull mono note, explodes.





26 comments:

Zaedah said...

Thanks for bringing me along on the bus ride toward poetry I wouldn't have had the pleasure of reading otherwise. It's a great service to humanity!

Dr. Jeanne Iris said...

Brilliant, TFE! Particularly, I like your stanza on the life jacket, saving one's soul, yet constraining it, as well. The Pavlov's dog reference is wonderful!

Argent said...

I dpn't mind having a second go. Think I've got that sticky clutch worked out now.

Rachel Fox said...

I'm always talking to people about thinking...it's a bit out of fashion or something! I do very little else... well, I eat of course.
x

ArtSparker said...

Brain hurts.

Waiting for poems...

Argent said...

Now I like this, I really, really like this. My head feels like this a lot of the time and I just can't turn off the incessant chattering monkey that lives in there. Bravissimo!

Kat Mortensen said...

"Stay in the shallow end of thought" I liked that line (and others). Don't shoot me if I say that I'm a closet Eastenders fan. (May explain a bit, eh?)

Niamh B said...

Brilliant poem, love the jacket with strings attached,
The following four lines are pretty magical too,
Whispers shout louder than things
That go bump in the night
More fragile than you might think,
Than you might…imagine

There's just a brilliant sound to the whole thing

am wowed

* said...

This is good, meaty stuff. Fine writing. There is heft and meaning in this poem that is brilliance. The voice, the diction, it all fits like a...well tailored jacket. :)


Fabuloso!!

NanU said...

yep, this thinking business is definitely overrated.
Happy to drive sometime in August!

Dominic Rivron said...

Good poem. Have you thought of posting more recordings? It would be good to hear you read it. (I can talk. It's something I've not got round to yet).

Great Fall video.

Oh, and you can put me down to drive the bus. Thankfully, I see you're OK for drivers upto the 1st week in July inclusive - I've a pile of reports to write before then. 12th July (or later) would be fine.

Batteson.Ind said...

more marvellousness here eejit!.. primary sterling stuff.. I think you're one of the masters of tortured soul poetry :-)

Dave King said...

Superb - top deck and open-topped.

Padhraig Nolan said...

Niiice!

Titus said...

Brilliant!

Sucked in by the first stanza, and then the trauma and the humour and the microscopic life of thought, or thought of life, was profound.
Yep, head exploding alright.

Shilpa said...

Superb take on the picture. Tell me how i did on the same picture at
http://www.bonjour-a-tous.blogspot.com/

And driving Poetry Bus sounds fun!!looking forward for it.

Peter Goulding said...

My head is intact, therefore I do not think. I read somewhere that 99% of our brain power lies dormant. I thought about that for a while and then stopped.
Sorry, can't concentrate on your poem - I'm still upset about Ronan and Yvonne...

Emerging Writer said...

Am not going to think for the rest of the day now. Not so much shallow end as paddling pool

Karen said...

Really good work, TFE! I can identify with these lines:

Thought is a poetry death wish
Your minds eye a microscope
Poised above the Petri dish
Watching a million things divide and multiply

Poetry has saved me, though, from exploding, because the things that are ready to blow become words on the page or the screen or the Bus.

Enchanted Oak said...

I liked the whole dam thing. But since the theme of comments this week runs like this: my favorite line is ... then I will tell you my favorite line is ... "a billion bacteria for each amoeba" and that's that.
Sorry to be so late, but I was camping in the forest. I made the Bus though. I'll be happy to drive the beast one week.
Sorry, fairies everywhere

Don't Feed The Pixies said...

er- you seem to have a different picture to everyone else

Nevertheless, excellent pome

Bill said...

Just to let you know the Poetry Bus is on the move for next week!

http://usuallyconfined.blogspot.com/2010/05/its-great-life-on-poetry-bus.html

esk said...

Vivid imagery! Great poem.

Unknown said...

I love this bit "Your minds eye a microscope/Poised above the Petri dish / Watching a million things divide and multiply." My poem is COMPLETELY DIFFERENT to yours, which I think is stellar.

@ctors Business said...

My favourite lines from your poem are

Stick to the familiar
Watch Eastenders,

Think of it as a life jacket
No strings attached
Except of course that there ARE strings attached
Padded walls? Suits you sir!

Musical crescendo disjointed
That’s when your head,
that dull mono note, explodes.

It's a very dark but some how humorous poem I really loved it. I'm going to have to re-read it

Oh I have had ago as well!
http://returninghomeinsilkenrobes.blogspot.com/2010/05/poetry-bus-challenge.html

Helen said...

'The shallow end of thought' .... those words resonate with me! Maybe it's because I am not a strong swimmer. I love the way your mind creates ..........