Palatial Surrounds.

September 5, 2008 at 4:49 pm | Posted in poetry, writing | 22 Comments
Tags: poetry, writing

Downstairs cook is resting her feet
and scullions chatter as they scrub
James is carrying a silver platter
cut glass and decanter to a room
where fragrant letters are
secretly exchanged under tables
rendezvous arranged

“There is no ceiling and no sky
No calming words nor lullaby
This is not dream nor mystery
A passing scene wherein we lie.”

Later a string quartet plays the parting waltz
the gentle air slips upstairs where
purple velvet drapes fringed with gold
separate
a sly vixen glistens in the dark
some sweet melody
reappears on his
lips and then is gone,

22 Comments »

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The transition in sound in the first stanza is wonderful and ‘sly vixen glistens’… sheesh, lovely. A symphony plays out here, Paul. Gorgeous.

Comment by Mary P— September 5, 2008 #
quick, sudorifically sudden; wonderful poem

Comment by Sumedh— September 5, 2008 #
so so never never never land gingatao, extraordinary magical vision, extraordinary
lightness in the depth, quite beyond while standing right there sort of, extraordinary i say again

Comment by tipota— September 5, 2008 #
Beautiful imagery! Very nice!

Comment by Fitch— September 5, 2008 #
Lovely, rich and decadent. 🙂 Love it!

Comment by Tina— September 5, 2008 #
beautiful, i want one of those fragrant letters!

Comment by mrs. sarah ott— September 6, 2008 #
rendezvous, i like

Comment by aefiel— September 6, 2008 #
Those last four lines just send me to swoonsville…could I live there? please?

Comment by la lunatique— September 6, 2008 #
Great rhythm…

“where fragrant letters are
secretly exchanged under tables
rendezvous arranged”

I love this!!!

Brilliant!

Comment by Disturbed Stranger— September 6, 2008 #
There is no ceiling and no walls.
No worrying words nor lies
breezing throughout sinful halls.
This is not dream nor death
A passing scene wherein we meet the skies.
—
I am sorry Paul for being childish and playing with your words. You are such an amazing writer/poet that everytime I read something from you Mr. Inspiration the unexpected asks me to dance with him:)

Comment by hayat— September 6, 2008 #
reminds me of some of those British films from the 30s…suave, smooth, urbane… perhaps George Sanders in the title role… or David Niven… or even Laurence Olivier…

nah, let’s go with Paul Squires…

Comment by Chico Mahalo— September 7, 2008 #
baroque, decadent, smart, ornate and wonderful.

Comment by peterandthehare— September 7, 2008 #
this is loverly, and (i hope you don’t mind this comparison) shades of bryan ferry at his best.

Comment by jason— September 7, 2008 #
this is intriguing and mellifluous to read .. must admit i was hearing you read it aloud … *grin … the poem says life isn’t a dream or a mystery but actually inverts this by being exactly that … well, if mystery could be called exact, which it can’t – otherwise it wouldn’t be …

there are secrets everywhere and that beautiful vixen Knows the nature of them all … there’s a kind of parallel understanding or recognition of this going on between her and James (or is it even James in the last lines? but his forte is Knowing the expression of those secrets) … they seem to share “a look” that’s unexchanged between them … kind of complementary … separate but not …

is this making any,/i> sense at all? lol

Comment by Shell— September 7, 2008 #
aarrgghh! did it again with that tag thing! sorry! *humph

Comment by Shell— September 7, 2008 #
Oh, gently seductive, the softest touch of
erotica I admire. I can hear the sounds of
the kitchen as well as the rustle of the drapes.

Comment by Cynthia— September 7, 2008 #
I was amidst palatable sounds as my
mind sat in palatial surrounds 🙂
Sheer music, Paul. Rhyme, rhythm, and logopoesia. Encore! To add to your list of requests, I want to hear this one on podcast too ha ha. I don’t know if I like your prose or poetry better, but I don’t have to choose do I? ((Hope you’re well))

Comment by harmonie22— September 8, 2008 #
It’s very nice gives a view into another world!

Comment by Art and Poetry— September 8, 2008 #
Thanks everyone for the lovely comments, especially the folk I haven’t met before, that is always special. I wish I had time to answer them all one by one but the response would be the same, thankyou.

Comment by Paul— September 8, 2008 #
yaba yaba
dude
this one is awe-some
very tastee

Comment by ozymandiaz— September 9, 2008 #
i love the quiet beauty in this one. those last three lines are especially wonderful.

Comment by lissa— September 9, 2008 #
romantic, elegant…
sarah

Comment by sarah flanigan— September 9, 2008 #