Skip to main content

WATCHING THE JOKER ALONE (Episode 102)

WATCHING THE JOKER ALONE

 

 


This morning the air is cold. I stand underneath two contrails and breathe deeply. I want to sense the scent of the day, but the chill seems to have made it faint. It carries a mix of silage and leaves and I decide to call it Autumn Green.

 

Alt text says this week’s photo is a book with a yellow figure on it. I say it is one of my yellow stretchy men on top of a copy of ‘Reels’ from The Broken Spine. I love this little collection of cinematic poetry, and it seemed appropriate to photograph it for this week’s blog. I took time to have a gorgeous reread of it while it was off the shelf too which was a lovely accompaniment to a cup of tea!

 

There has been much for me to enjoy at the cinema lately. I absolutely love going to the cinema – it is one of the places where I know I am likely to be fully immersed in what’s in front of me. Being focused on one thing at a time is a pure joy and sometimes it can feel rather rare because I often have a tendency to do more than one thing at a time. Kath and I have watched The Long Walk (I am glad I watched it after climbing Snowdon), Downton Abbey (Kath’s choice to make up for my choice of The Long Walk) and Inter Alia (A seize the moment trip to make the most of a National Theatre Screening.)

 

There’s still something special about having popcorn and a drink at the cinema, and of planning what goes on the ‘want to see’ list as a result of watching the trailers, and I don’t think I will ever tire of this.

 

I like company at the cinema, but I am also happy to sink into a seat alone. This week I was recording some poems for a thing and I was wondering what to record. I rather fancied a theme of some kind. First of all, I considered my rabbit poems and then I decided because there are likely to be more yet to come, they would be better saved for a future date. Whilst looking I enjoyed rereading my poem Watching the Joker Alone which was written in response to a call out for cinematic poems from The Broken Spine. This encouraged me to see which other poems had found their home with this particular press – and a setlist was formed.

 

Watching the Joker Alone is one of those poems that captures a specific moment in time, and which might not even have been written if I hadn’t read the call out from Alan Parry. On seeing the call out I had recently returned from a solo visit to the cinema so I picked up my pen to see what might evolve. I remembered the feeling I had as I walked down the stairs to the exit as the credits rolled, and the poem took form on the page.

 

WATCHING THE JOKER ALONE

 

As soon as the lights go up 

I stretch nonchalantly from my seat,

 

walk the centre of each step,

feel my mouth begin to twitch.

 

And there’s a roll in my hips 

that wants to give me a swagger.

 

I imagine my lips red,

picture my head back laughing;

everything that’s in me 

out in a fountain of sound.

 

Keep it all in, I tell myself,

just keep it in.



Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

SOMEBODY’S MISSING (Episode 82)

 SOMEBODY’S MISSING     PodBean Link for those who like to listen  This morning the air has been sung in fresh by the dawn chorus. It carries hints of green and fuchsia.   Alt text suggests that this week’s photo is a person sitting on a lawn with flowers. I say it is a photo of my lovely dad and the flowers we chose to celebrate his life at his funeral.   This is the first new month that has started without my dad being here. I’ve learnt that I want to tell everyone what I learned from him. I’ve learned that one of the best things I can think of to do right now is carry forward the very special parts of him to the best of my ability. I’ve also learned that writing some of this down in a poem felt right, but that reading said poem when we gathered together to say goodbye to him required a large hanky and plenty of time for deep breaths.   I am so glad he came into my life when I was young and built us a family to be proud of. There’s so muc...
Post a Comment
Read more

STEPPING OUT FOR SNOOKER BY THE SEA (Episode 74)

STEPPING OUT FOR SNOOKER BY THE SEA  PodBean Link for those who like to listen...    This morning the rain brings a gentle dampness, and the air holds the scent of sap and twigs.    Alt text says this week’s photo is two women taking a selfie. I say it is me and my sister taking a selfie having learned that it is best if we both sit down. When we stand side by side for photos she looks far taller than me and the photos seem a little out of balance. She says I have shrunk. She couldn’t see me at the railway station when she arrived for her visit, and I found myself standing on tip toes and waving a big double handed wave, so perhaps I might just have to measure myself to find out if I have indeed shrunk a little!   We first met up to watch the snooker a year ago, and before this I had never watched it live. We saw Gary Wilson’s 147 break, and laughed at my sister’s impression of me telling her I was suffering from shin splint...
Post a Comment
Read more

TWO SISTERS AND A COW (Episode 80)

TWO SISTERS AND A COW   PodBean Link for those who like to listen This morning the air brings the distinct smell of cut grass. The birds have turned up their dawn chorus songs these last few days and are welcoming the mornings with a vigour that is admirable.   Alt text tells me this week’s photo is ‘two women taking a selfie in front of a cow’. I say it is my sister and I on a country walk encouraging a cow to be in our photo after we have told it how beautiful we think it is.   I have been reminded about a couple of things on recent walks:   Number one: Being dehydrated is not good for me. I often talk to the creatures I see on my walks, but when I was dehydrated recently I became judgemental and called a squirrel naughty and told a sheep it looked like a badger. My sister recounts school days where one orange squash drink and maybe a metallic sip from the water fountain were her drinks for the day. How much better we are at hydrating now. I kno...
Post a Comment
Read more