Thursday, 3 November 2011

Collaterally damaged?



On the busy shopping street pavement
Near the 3rd take-away
And the 5th Christmas tree
I suddenly see a man with no legs
Sitting alone with a small paper cup
Positioned between
Where his legs should have been
He is singing a comical song
In a language that is foreign to me
And now when he sees me
Halt in mid-stride
He suddenly stops
And falls silent
As fog
He looks up to me
The twinkle in his eye
He wears a bright smile
His stumps are encased in red socks
I take the coin from my pocket
He raises the cup
With his arm
And it's then that I see
That he has but one arm
I place the coin in the cup
And feel the look of his eye
An eye that sees deep
It touches my soul

gw2011/

5 comments:

  1. You paint a vivid picture as usual Gwilym. Like the last two lines as a finishing off of a good poem.

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  2. Powerful, Gwilym - from the facetious start to the depth of true images.

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  3. Thanks Pat and Gordon, by the way as well as being "vivid" and "powerful" I think it's also a good read aloud poem - it has much tone and cadence.

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  4. good stuff in my absence Gwilym
    john

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