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Where dragons and maidens are no more

The same quiet air of resigned and damned despair

that lives in cabbage water steeping,

resides in Harrogate, North Yorkshire

in teabags gently stewing

and a: Gosh! Isn’t this pleasant

Oh, this is far from bleeding pleasant;

this is death that’s not arrived yet

this is dreams that weren’t worthwhile.

 

A shaft of hopeful sunlight on an uninspired graffito

on a tower block of empty grey,

lifts the day – exalts it –

to drop it to its doom

far from the neon glow of Vegas;

out of the range of radiation

shambles trudge with groceries laden

where dragons and maidens are no more.

 

Those days of yore, as if by dint of their very name

weren’t mine, mine weren’t worth keeping

but neither will be those later steps

when all the possibilities

normalize slowly down to one

and every possibility looks grim

and unattractive, but even now

I’m not excited by “possible” anymore.

 

Waking early to wring the weary best of the day,

stumbling on love in the loneliest places;

casting its shadows to dark places

never to darken my solitary door.

The future looks bleak, the past – disastrous,  

the present (be it only for the winking of an instant)

is brilliant and couldn’t be better,

where dragons and maidens are no more.

◄ Spectating

What she said ►

Comments

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DG

Tue 21st Dec 2010 17:05

ah, s'okay there are no more dragons and maidens in the poem. Tower blocks and Vegas are still there though, I checked the other day.

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Ray Miller

Tue 21st Dec 2010 16:56

I enjoyed this, even though Vegas and dragons and maidens in the same verse is a bit of a stretch.

A shaft of hopeful sunlight on an uninspired graffito

on a tower block of empty grey

I didn't like the "on an" closely followed by "on a". How about "grazes uninspired graffiti"? First verse is excellent, I think.

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DG

Tue 21st Dec 2010 16:42

Thanks Gus I'll pop by some time when you're at the studio, or gi's a bell when you're there. Have a good xmas both of you!

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Gus Jonsson

Tue 21st Dec 2010 15:58

....5 gold rings!!!!!.....hoping you'll ever cheer up is much a fantasy as this wonderful written jouney . Wonderful stuff Dermot..love it.

Hp to c u soon.

Gus

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Chris Dawson

Tue 21st Dec 2010 15:02

I see you're in festive mood! Really like this, though a little on the bleak side. Some fantastic lines there.
Cx

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