Sunday, May 30, 2021

there is life yet

" that it rained in June
that our cigarette tips
still burn red and hot

in the cold rain,
smoke trailing like lost dreams
as the world winded down,"

- dsnake1, before the next day



image by Cdd20 at pixabay



there is life yet


to come back home
like coming back from a war
all fights lost
sitting on
the cold ceramic floor
wondering where
the day has died
pulls out a cigarette
pulls out the tab
of a beer can
sitting quietly
sitting in the
gathering darkness
listening
listening
to the sound
of the old refrigerator
fighting back
looking
looking at
the TV staring back
a cold cyclops eye
glaring
and listen
listen!
the distant wail
of the neighbour's baby
crying
crying for milk perhaps
it is comforting to know
some things remain the same
now the father
and the mother bickering
yes, yes, there is life yet.



17/04/2021
**********






BAND-MAID - the non-fiction days





© cheong lee san ( dsnake1 ) 2021

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22 Comments:

Blogger Old Egg said...

Well I am glad that coming home was getting back to the life and home he remembered.

30 May, 2021 19:20  
Blogger dsnake1 said...

Thank you, Robin!

in this poem, the drudgery of work is not really a life to the narrator. but to hear the baby's cries brings the narrator's world back. :)

30 May, 2021 20:13  
Blogger colleen said...

I like the contrast between the red hot cigarette tip and the cold rain. The last stanza is mesmerizing. Funny, I found comfort in the normalcy of the baby crying and even its parents bickering.

30 May, 2021 20:47  
Blogger dsnake1 said...

thank you, Colleen!
yes, the normalcy is in the baby crying, and its parents bickering. this events jolted the narrator back to life. :)

30 May, 2021 21:12  
Blogger Gillena Cox said...

Ah that longing for normalcy, well crafted, in the bickering, in the cigarette glow and the feeling of the rain

Happy Sunday. Thanks for dropping

Much💚love

30 May, 2021 22:45  
Blogger dsnake1 said...

Thank you, Gillena. :)

30 May, 2021 23:15  
Blogger indybev said...

How sad the proof of life has to be bickering and not love-talk!

30 May, 2021 23:17  
Blogger Rajani Rehana said...

Your blog is amazing.

30 May, 2021 23:23  
Blogger dsnake1 said...

Beverly,

Thank you.
haha! bickering is a sign of life. :)


Rajani,

Thank you! :)

30 May, 2021 23:45  
Blogger Magaly Guerrero said...

Some signs of life are not as uplifting as others, huh? But hey, one must make the best of it.

I love the reality of it.

31 May, 2021 01:19  
Blogger Helen said...

Beautiful writing ................ everything you share.

31 May, 2021 01:35  
Blogger Cressida de Nova said...

You have captured the emptiness and loneliness of an unfulfilled life. Sad poem... well written.

31 May, 2021 01:40  
Blogger Marja said...

Love the poem with some great lines like
'smoke trailing like lost dreams
as the world winded down'
'a cold cyclops eye
glaring'
Love the theme as well that everyday life gives you a sense of normality and comfort

31 May, 2021 05:24  
Blogger Jenna said...

It is interesting that the speaker is happy, in a way, even about the bickering.

31 May, 2021 07:03  
Blogger dsnake1 said...

Magaly,

No, but still signs of life, nonetheless. and to make the best use of it, like you said.
Thank you! :)


Helen,

Thank you! :)


Cressida,

Thank you! :)
a pretty bleak poem, isn't it?

31 May, 2021 10:36  
Blogger Rosemary Nissen-Wade said...

I very much like the way you've used repetition in this one.

31 May, 2021 11:30  
Blogger dsnake1 said...

Marja,

Thank you for the comment. :)


Jenna,

Thank you!
yes, interesting, in a strange way. :)


Rosemary,

Thank you!
i think repetition would be useful in such types of poems, where waiting, and inaction are key words. and i like to use short lines in such type of works. :)

31 May, 2021 13:52  
Blogger Rommy said...

I like how you use the repeats to really ground us into the reality of the the piece.

02 June, 2021 08:48  
Blogger Jim said...

I used to love the smell of burning cigarettes in the rain. But I gave that up 49 years ago.
..

02 June, 2021 12:07  
Blogger dsnake1 said...

Rommy,

So, the poem (and the repeats) works!
Thank you! :)


Jim,

Good decision! I gave that up about 10+ years ago.

02 June, 2021 22:19  
Blogger Rajani Rehana said...

Mind blowing post

09 June, 2021 14:58  
Blogger dsnake1 said...

Thank you, rajani! :)

09 June, 2021 21:02  

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