John Looker
http://www.inksweatandtears.co.uk/pages/?p=15985
— Read on www.inksweatandtears.co.uk/pages/
I’m most grateful to Ink Sweat & Tears, the literary webzine, for posting this poem of mine today. I follow their posts daily by the way.
Tuesday 24th: at last, today I’ve had a chance to return to the laptop and update the formatting of the poem below.
To Love Thy Neighbour
So still, the street. The single patrol car
stationary, the team from the hospital
standing beyond the trees, the neighbours
behind their curtains. And the doctor
one foot on the step, frozen.
You’ll let them take me away, he’d said,
pulling the window shut, his voice
burrowing into her mind like a weasel,
digging out memories of a previous occasion,
hunting her conscience down.
Her eye fell on rubbish that was spilling out
from the cluttered porch to the patch of garden:
bottles and cans, wrappers – and something
that was surely the remains of a chicken. Softly,
I promise I won’t, she said.
(Posting this from a tablet and not my laptop, I cannot get the formatting right no matter how many times I try. But Ink Sweat & Tears have done a great job with the formatting on their own website – thanks again I,S&T !)
John. This is new to me. Very fine. I hear that final whisper like a bell.
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By: Thomas DEvelyn on 10 April, 2018
at 15:50
Oh thanks Tom – I really appreciate your close reading.
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By: John Looker on 10 April, 2018
at 17:52
I have just read and re-read this several times. Each time it bites – though that is the wrong word for poem with gentleness in every line – a little harder. Thomas is right, it continues to echo making you re-read. I have just sent a copy of The Human Hive to a friend.
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By: hilarycustancegreen on 11 April, 2018
at 06:32
Hilary – thank you so much. I feel humbled. With best wishes – John.
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By: John Looker on 11 April, 2018
at 07:03
What an evocative poem describing a moment that most of us will face at least once. I love the details – the neighbors behind their curtains, and the rubbish spilling out into the garden, to quote a few..
On a practical matter I have found that the way to defeat my WordPress
automatic interpretation of my formatting in the form of double spacing is as follows: Go to the start of the line under the double space, press “backspace”; then the press “Control” or “Shift” (one or the other I don’t remember which) simultaneously with “Enter”; and the line should place itself under the line above with a single space. Nonsense yes, but it seems to work!
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By: Jane Stansfeld on 11 April, 2018
at 14:31
Thanks so much Jane. And for your practical tip too! Actually I usually do that myself but I’m having to rely on my iPad for a while and I can’t find a ‘control’ key! I’ll maybe edit the text later when I have the chance. 😊
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By: John Looker on 12 April, 2018
at 11:54
Very profound, John. Excellent.
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By: gorgeousgael on 29 April, 2018
at 21:22
For some reason I missed your comment at the time. Don’t know how, but thank you Tom!
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By: John Looker on 8 June, 2018
at 06:49
so powerful, yet simply said, without self pity.
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By: Kalila on 5 June, 2018
at 20:09
Thank you Kalila. It’s good to hear from you by the way.
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By: John Looker on 5 June, 2018
at 21:40
The imagery here, the simile, the flow and the emotion together make this piece a joy to read…I am so glad I stopped by this one and congrats on the publication !
Lynda
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By: Lynda Bullerwell poetry on 8 June, 2018
at 03:02
Thank you Lynda. I’m very glad you stopped by too!
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By: John Looker on 8 June, 2018
at 06:51