Monday, September 12, 2011

"Neither cruel nor prophetic"

Whew! Thank god writing's as much part of me as my fingernails or teeth contours, otherwise I definitely wouldn't be getting to it. Anyway, here's my fourth submission to Americymru's West Coast Eisteddfod's poetry contest. The formatting on my poem is much better over there, so go check it out!



A pharmacy dragged me here,
barely.
Here, this shabby restaurant
with grimy teacups
and gnarled fingers.
Numb customers, staring into
the hardness of the world,
gray as the sky,
dirt-lined as
the plates before them,
tasteless as the food,
distant as the beaches the guidebooks promised.

There is an unadulterated moment
when
the cook sneezes in the soup.

Neither cruel nor prophetic,
a blemished fate of fortuitous seconds.

Still, unmindful,
I settle.


-

This poem means so much to me. It is a true story, or as true as any story can be, about a little cafe outside the Swansea train station. I loved the place, for all its desperation, and those moments still stir in me, somewhere. ... I'll be submitting a short story to the WCE's short story contest that's also a variation of this theme.

If you're interested in submitting, the deadline's Thursday, 15 September. Cheers!

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