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Wednesday 11 January 2012

anticlimax

It had looked so inviting from below,
a low domed hill, and on its crown
a circle of young trees. The climb
was undertaken willingly. We found
the circle ringed a hollow in the ground -
the sort that's not uncommon on these downs.
Best bet: a German bomber, homeward bound
had dumped the remnants of its load. If so,
one bomb had carved a saucer from the chalk.
We weren't the first to see it in those terms:
for someone at a later date, came, stood
an iron mug, a huge and rusting thing,
of purpose indeterminate, smack in
its shallow centre where a cup should go.

Its toppled since that day, stands now aslant,
bumped out of its complacency, no doubt
by the red pedal car, for ever wedged
between a whitebeam and a beech. There was
no road to that high place, which through the years
had sprouted rosebud toilets (broken: two),
a bedstead, fridge and T.V. set, a bike,
a motorcycle (minus wheels) and a
large body-building gizmo with a range
of hooks and chains more like a torturing
machine. A red stain as of blood did not
put any minds to rest. But worst of all -
it was a bigger mess, by God
than that the Heinkel left.

16 comments:

The Weaver of Grass said...

Quite depressing really Dave isn't it? It is exactly the same up here in the Dales

Tabor said...

What a disturbing image...that our lives are more garbage filled and destructive than a war! Actually it is the veneer of time that covers all. I have been reading books and watching movies of this time in your country...not a research...just that it all has come together for me these days.

Brian Miller said...

mmm, nice verse dave...def a thought provoker...

Anonymous said...

Whoa. Someone is not happy with the way things are going in the modern world! I certainly agree. You have described the debris in such sharp and vivid terms, it feels not apocalyptic exactly, but like such a slash on the landscape and consciousness. Very interesting. (I do not think of these things in the UK. I know it is very naive of me--I think of the old shells, etc, but not this modern detritus.) K.

Mary said...

Just took a walk through a woodsy area the other day. Someone dumped an old television back off the road. So stupid when city dumps take these things. NO need to litter.

Rose said...

Fly tippers I often wonder what sort of animals they are! Good write :D

Carl said...

Ughh. I posted about this too in the summer when I found garbage bags and trash strewn on the trail to a beautiful waterfall.

Maude Lynn said...

And, it just grows and grows! I really like the rhythm of this.

Dulcina said...

So inviting from below and on top... just crap, wow!
A cemetery of past wonders, broken objects, garbage now,
machine bones, even the remnants of a bomb...
It is the tribute to something called "progress", civilization,
where to be is buy, consume and throw away...

A red stain as of blood did not
put any minds to rest


Excellent realistic poem denouncing this holy creepy crap, Dave.
We wouldn't miss that mass of mess!
Anticlimax, indeed.
:)

Tommaso Gervasutti said...

Vivid images, absolutely at focus.
I liked the "rosebud toilet" in particular.

Fear and attraction, the sublime. What the children know best.

Windsmoke. said...

Vivid image of bomb crater filled with ugly rubbish in what sounds like a pristine area of woodlands :-).

Gerry Snape said...

great post...I like the comment..."slash in the landscape"...that's a phrase to get the imagination going.

haricot said...

Your writing suggest the fear that men do without thinking but just do as other do...

Monika said...

Subjective images, powerful and a little terrifying. Liked the end the most!

Dave King said...

The Weaver of Grass
Depressing is right. Can't see the reason for it. Why struggle up such a hill just to dump large and awkward objects at the top? Your walk this morning made a lovely contrast!

Tabor
Yes you're right about the veneer that time leaves, but then all the bomber did was drop a bomb which threw earth around on the top of a hill and left a shallow crater. Time and nature covered it over and then someone came along and dumped gerbage on it.

Brian
Thanks.

manicddaily
Actually, I think you are very wise to think thus. Good on you!

Mary
Couldn't agree more. Why? Makes no sense.

Rose
Me too! Thanks.

Carl
Yes, I remember. I don't suppose they'll take any more notice of me than they did you!

Mama Zen
I does too! Thank you for saying that.

Dulcina
I nearly called it "Disappointment", but thought that understated it.

Tommaso
Somebody didn't like it, obviously! Thanks Tommaso.

Windsmoke
Well nearly pristine - the Luftwaffe had re-contoured it!

Gerry
Thanks for the observation, Gerry.

haricot
Yes, I think that puts it very neatly.

Monika
Thank you for this - the sort of thing I like to know.

Ygraine said...

What does it tell us of those who use a should-be respected Earth-scar as a garbage dumping ground?
That in disrespecting Earth, they have lost their self-respect?