The Signature
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Communication was filtering
As patience's breath now pollutes
Running amok when the mailman appeared
Hardly worth the dust kicked from his boots
Everyone told me to hang up
Those notions of him coming back
A wanderer loves you or leaves you for dead
When there's few things for him to unpack
A maiden in gingham in each town?
While he sails you on letters of love
If the minutes and hours told their secret
What would they be admitting of?
Only, time cannot heal the emotion
Or soothe the wounds as they occur
Time to put to rest those bullet-light memories
And the spark that kicked up from his spurs
Sunsets and sabotaged heartbeats
Deeper horseshoe prints at night
When the pretty go hunting the pretty
Setting damnation alight
A chicken-scratched note on brown paper
All spit stained and cheap cowboy scrawl
How can she ever forget him, when
There's still bits of him pinned to the wall!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Bye Bye, Basildon Bond
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Went to post me a letter just last week -
the road there I stumbled across
I couldn't believe when I heard it!
Wouldn't know how to manage my loss......
Our little post office in Stepp Street
was saying goodbye to the world
He'd been finished off, shut out, neglected,
no more posters for them to unfurl
Said the art of us all corresponding,
all we pen-pals and chitchats of yore
Were being replaced due to 'email'
pen and paper considered a bore!
The selling of stamps greatly dwindled,
no more licking and sticking in place
Making sure that the stamp's fixed securely
by a bop on her Majesty's face!
Well, my nerves and my temper erupted,
I demanded to speak to the chief!
Of the Royal Mail's mighty allegiance,
but my phone call was curt and so brief
He told me, to hurry my complaint,
I could email him straight there and then
What I next thought was wholly unlike me,
but I'd shove up the whole of the pen!
I'm just an old gal, with old values
never cheated on lead or on ink
But I guess I'll now try best of both worlds
What harm is it to interlink?!
*****************************************************
8 comments:
love your "Western" take on the image! hah-who woulda thunk?
and yes the internet has done in our postal service....wave by by to the lovely gift of a handwritten missive in the mailbox...too bad.
I still love handwriting letters. That's too bad about your post office. Love the poetry :)
Basildon Bond... I remember that paper LOL
It is a shame that so many post offices all over the world will close due to newer ways of communicating...like emails. I hope paper books never go out of fashion. Do love to hold a book in my hands and smell the newness of the print and such.
Loved both your pieces. :)
nice...the post office is def going by the way with less letters to deliver...just bills...and those little notes they keep going what may not even be there still but there is hope...
Two different responses here! I share your anger about the poor old post office and it’s very well-expressed. One thing’s for sure you’d never want to use that pen again!
So much to like in each of these!
Re: The Signature
"Only, time cannot heal the emotion
Or soothe the wounds as they occur"
Much truth in these lines. I'm reading along in this emotional little piece, and then get to the last two lines that turn from waxing nostalgic straight into humor. *smiles* Love how your mind works.
Re: Bye Bye, Basildon Bond Again truth & humor, but mixed with a little sadness I think. We, too, in my area have seen a downsizing of Post Offices and hours kept, due to this computer age. I wonder for future generations if all the satellites were to fail, and all electronics to go down, would they even know how to write a letter?!!
(Just wanted to note too, I love the clever way you've "adapted" the images for each. Is that a special program? Nicely done!)
Sunsets and sabotaged heartbeats
Deeper horseshoe prints at night
When the pretty go hunting the pretty
Setting damnation alight
These lines are just begging to be set to music...
Tess took the words out of my mouth. My favorite stanza!
And I liked your nod to the PO, too.
=)
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