Wednesday, 13 January 2016

Harrow




















The bag opens
Bye bye kitty she says 
Tying off her arm 
With the telephone cord
My hand goes purple
You have terrible veins 
That was the plan 
It was meant to be foolproof
Immaculate
Perfect

I tap the empty pen barrel 
Looking for words 

Lame
Useless
Dead 

Let's cure the elements
Dissect dolly
Lament
I
Meant
Too
Like I meant to be harrowed

We're like cockroaches she says
Crunching
Delicious ones
Coated in chocolate and cream

Pain is quick
I am an ache
I stay for ever and ever

No one knows Alice
What it's really like down here
Why should they
This is our world
Not theirs

She sits on the counter
Swings her feet
She’s not wearing shoes
That means we are staying in

Colour only counts 
When it resides in your soul
She says
Lucid
It hardly counts when it brushes paper

We bend truth like spoons 

Warm as treacle
Thick as porridge
Why do you turn everything into food
I just do
Silly

It fills a hole

The skin is broken
Bleeding

It is really no surprise that we need chemicals to feel

Shut down
Cut out
Ring ring
Dead phone

The bag opens
Bye bye kitty she says 
Tying off her arm 
With the telephone cord.

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49 comments:

  1. Nuwan S13 January 2016 at 03:53

    nicely written
    interesting

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  2. Old Egg13 January 2016 at 03:53

    Pens are not that helpful when writing as they haven't minds of their own, they are not even pensive which would help at times. As always Jae there is much food for thought in your writing which is appropriate this week with the prompt! It is good that you always manage to insert some humour in your writing,

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    1. Jae Rose13 January 2016 at 06:14

      Thank you very much Old Egg - i'm glad there's humour in the gloom sandwich! empty pens have a pretty strong pull..in the wrong hands...

      Delete
  3. Anonymous13 January 2016 at 04:22

    cockroaches Coated in chocolate and cream....
    Colour only counts When it resides in your soul...

    these are "wish I'd thought of them" kind of lines..lovely!

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    1. Jae Rose13 January 2016 at 06:15

      Thank you kindly thotpurge...i'm glad the chocolate cockroaches were a hit!

      Delete
  4. Sanaa Rizvi13 January 2016 at 04:41

    "We bend truth like spoons"

    Most excellent phrase.. its true that we sometimes like to bend the truth to better suit our means. Beautifully executed!

    Lots of love,
    Sanaa

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    Replies
    1. Jae Rose13 January 2016 at 06:16

      Thank you kindly Sanaa - glad you liked them

      Delete
  5. Mary13 January 2016 at 05:28

    Yes, food does fill a hole indeed; but sometimes food is inconsequential in filling the hole that exists elsewhere.

    The imagery of tying one's arm with a telephone cord is chilling.

    Take care of yourself, Jae.

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    1. Jae Rose13 January 2016 at 06:18

      Exactly so - thank you kindly Mary...we are doing our best..which could always be better i know..take care also

      Delete
    2. Sumana Roy13 January 2016 at 06:58

      glad Alice turns every thing into food...food is her only joy in that dark space where one needs chemical to feel..."We bend truth like spoons" only to serve our own purposes sadly....mankind has truly fallen...

      Delete
    3. Jae Rose13 January 2016 at 11:50

      True on both counts and indeed sadly thank you Sumana - we all need our private, quiet pleasures - thank you..and for the prompt

      Delete
  6. Jules13 January 2016 at 07:34

    When we write with our hearts...
    often a pen is not needed.
    Though it could help others occasionally understand the trailing cord of our thoughts.

    Yes, Alice some flowers are very pretty even when they are poisonous.

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    1. Jae Rose13 January 2016 at 11:53

      Beautifully put thank you Jules...The heart certainly can sing or cry without touching the ink well...perhaps Alice is both pretty and a little poisonous at times...the appeal of all intoxicating substances I suppose...thank you kindly

      Delete
  7. Magical Mystical Teacher13 January 2016 at 07:59

    Even in the midst of our pain, there's something comforting about food. It may not be much, but it's what we have, so we reach for it, nibble at it, savor it.

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    1. Jae Rose13 January 2016 at 11:55

      Yes I think the odd nibble and savour often helps..it doesn't require much conversation which can sometimes be a relief..it ain't called comfort food for nothing I suppose - thank you most deliciously Magical

      Delete
  8. Sheilagh Lee13 January 2016 at 08:13

    Sometimes food can be a great mood changer

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    1. Jae Rose13 January 2016 at 11:56

      For better or worse...thank you very much Sheilagh

      Delete
  9. Gillena Cox13 January 2016 at 08:22

    The sadness in this poem ready hones in at the line where food just "fills a hole"

    Thanks for a jolting share today

    Wishing you a happy day

    Much love...

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    Replies
    1. Jae Rose13 January 2016 at 11:57

      Thank you very much Gillena - perhaps all temporary fillers can turn into a bad jolt.. A happy day back to you

      Delete
  10. Womanzie13 January 2016 at 09:01

    Awesomely expressed...

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  11. Medhini13 January 2016 at 09:02

    Nice read... but sent chills down my spine.

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    Replies
    1. Jae Rose13 January 2016 at 11:57

      Thank you very much Medhini - although sorry about those chills

      Delete
  12. J.N.T.13 January 2016 at 10:28

    provocative and sorrowful. I could feel the speaker's pain and dark mood beneath it. riveting!

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    1. Jae Rose13 January 2016 at 11:58

      Thank you James - not our brightest day..hopefully tomorrow will be better

      Delete
  13. Susan13 January 2016 at 14:58

    Argh! Your poem made me shudder. Food is not just for filling holes, is it? Poor Kitty! Effective as ever.

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    1. Jae Rose14 January 2016 at 05:39

      It was a dark Wednesday - hopefully the shudders will pass...thank you very much Susan

      Delete
  14. vanderloost13 January 2016 at 15:16

    Yes, colours count when they reside in your souls...very true! But at the same time very disturbing picture!!

    Geetashree

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    1. Jae Rose14 January 2016 at 05:40

      Thank you Geetashree - not the brightest picture..thank you for sticking with it!

      Delete
  15. Sherry Blue Sky13 January 2016 at 15:53

    A rather harrowing read, my dear friend, and I hear you. I especially love "we bend truth like spoons" and "Colour only counts when it resides in your soul." And "Pain is quick. I am an ache." Be good to yourself, Jae Rose. You write so brilliantly, your letters to the world and we are lucky to receive them.

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    1. Jae Rose14 January 2016 at 05:42

      Thank you for hearing - more to the point, understanding Sherry...i am very lucky to have people who read those letters...let's hope there is a brighter one in the post..thank you xo

      Delete
  16. moondustwriter14 January 2016 at 04:13

    So many ways that we try to placate and medicate.
    What value is there in whitewash, an medicine to counter the medicine, covering the ...
    Hand me a phone cord - please.

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    Replies
    1. Jae Rose14 January 2016 at 05:43

      No nutritional value in any whitewash or panacea Moonie...can i pass you some chocolate rather than the phone cord...best consign that to the cupboard i think - thank you

      Delete
  17. Anonymous14 January 2016 at 08:07

    "Pain is quick

    I am an ache

    I stay for ever and ever"

    I absolutely love this stanza. Love this entire piece.

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  18. Grace14 January 2016 at 09:15

    The ending is so tragic but this line jumped out for me:

    We bend truth like spoons

    Amazing writing Jae ~

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  19. Karen 2.014 January 2016 at 09:53

    Just phenomenal.

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  20. kaykuala14 January 2016 at 17:16

    Colour only counts
    When it resides in your soul

    Wise words Jae! What is life when it is colorless - no excitement, no loving, no sacrifices but just dragging oneself?

    Hank

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    Replies
    1. Jae Rose15 January 2016 at 04:21

      Dragging oneself along is the prefect way of putting it..thank you very much Hank

      Delete
  21. purplepeninportland.com14 January 2016 at 20:27

    Pain is quick
    I am an ache
    I stay for ever and ever

    We bend truth like spoons

    Those are just two out of many incredible images here, Jae.

    ReplyDelete
  22. rallentanda14 January 2016 at 23:50

    It is really no surprise we need chemicals to feel....If you lead a normal life and are a sensitive person you would have to take drugs to get through it to block out the horror of it.
    The majority of people are insensitive. I am writing this in a cafe and looking at the people eating this expensive badly prepared rubbish called food.They honestly cannot tell the difference and even seem to enjoy it. I think they are all comatosed. I sympathise with people who take drugs. If I led a normal life I would have either taken drugs or be dead by now. There are ways out...but you have to be in the right country. I just met a woman who bought 2 acres of land for four thousand GBP here in the bush a couple of months ago. She has a goat a horse and a car . She could not cope with normal life. You can still get that here although like all good things it is getting harder. However where you are located in the northern hemisphere you don't have a chance of this. Australia is the last frontier left in the world for alternate thinkers ( nice pc way of saying political peaceful subversives or crackpots comme moi LOL)Although sadly we are catching up to the rest of the world and then there will be nowhere left to go.

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    1. Jae Rose15 January 2016 at 04:26

      Thank you Rallentanda - for your comment and understanding..no not much space here to not fit in..and i think i fall in the margins between drugged and dead in various ways - it is sad that the emptiest people seem to get life..where thinking people struggle so much and are locked up for wanting more - not materialistically - that would be normal..it would be good to drop out..although when you already live in the margins it's not much different in a way...sigh..in the absence of a physical frontier..i am glad at least there is a writing one..thank you

      Delete
  23. Unknown15 January 2016 at 18:38

    So many parts spoke to me! there is never enough food to fill an emptiness, or colour the greyness of apathy and depression. Awesome write!!!

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    1. Jae Rose16 January 2016 at 01:17

      No sometimes the hole cannot be filled...thank you kindly Cheryl-Lynn

      Delete
  24. Intelliblog19 January 2016 at 22:09

    How many of us go through life with holes in our hearts and souls... We all try to fill those holes - some with drugs, some with food, some with meaningless encounters, flawed relationships, kids that are used as accessories rather than arrows that are shot into the future... The ache of the hollow heart lingers on and on...

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    1. Jae Rose20 January 2016 at 02:57

      It certainly does thank you Nicholas - the vast majority of us no doubt have gaps that ache and we try to fill - thank you kindly

      Delete

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