Tuesday, March 07, 2006

Spraznicum Esho

Happy International Women's Day!

Sunset in Sun City
(for mom)

I.
Wheelchair ruts in faded red carpets
Crowded lobbies, hushed corridors
Grab a seat, the matinee is about to start.

Ancient limos, giant and shinny
Pull up to the grand promenade
Before the majestic doors.

The music of large bands is
Swinging in syncopation,
Swaying in orchestrated phrases.

It will soon be flashing lights, fancy dames,
Reporters bending in to catch what’s said,
Cigarettes and whisky until the dawn.

II.
Alone in the school yard
Two miles away, the squeak
Of a metal swing fractures the silence.

She actually enjoys the sound of it,
The desperate cry of some
Tortured giant metal bird.

No mom or dad around.
Nobody to play with,
The metal shrieking in pain.

III.
The old begin to gather
In after dinner sitting rooms
Chairs roll on careful rubber treads

Across padded carpets, or glide with a lisp
Down level linoleum paths as if descending.
A walker makes soft metalic clunks

Bangs in muted hollowness
Against the table as the woman
Surrenders to the chair.

There the show begins;
Not talking, staring straight ahead
She sees what no one still alive can remember.

She cries, she sighs, she smiles,
She holds dad’s hand.

8 comments:

tussand said...

Woot. Encore encore I like this one hahahaha. I already like the structure when i first saw it.

And anyway for those poor fatboy chefs as Russell calls you all (not me) Lapsar or Pre-Lapsarian denotes the period before Adam's fall and his exile from the Garden of Eden.

Sin therefore, figures a lot in this state. Because the post-Lapsarian state points to the fall of Man and his burden of eternal sin, from whence he is separated forever from the Garden of Eternal Life.

Russell Ragsdale said...

Thanks aristocrat! I think this structure is pretty workable to examine this question. Glad you enjoyed it and thanks for the "bite of the apple," I couldn't find that term in my dictionary.

Pat Paulk said...

My Dad lived in an assisited living faciltiy about 4 years before he died. All of this is very familiar. Great ending!!!

Russell Ragsdale said...

Thanks Pat! There's definately more going on there than meets the eyes and ears. Glad the ending came across. Not all memories have to be happy ones but, at the end, they can bring us enjoyment.

tussand said...

No problem haha. I have never heard of Lapsar before. It's usually quoted as Lapsarian or Pre-Lapsarian, coming from the root word lapse.

Russell Ragsdale said...

Interesting aristocrat! I usually tend to think of the source of original sin as a bit more than a lapse. Anyway, thanks for this!

Sue hardy-Dawson said...

This really took me on a journey with moving pictures

Russell Ragsdale said...

Thanks Sue! I really wanted this to be visual, like two stories happening at the same time, but I couldn't figure out how to pull that off, exactly. I'm glad you enjoyed the show.