September 17, 2004
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New poems with two of my personæ not used in the last blog.
Mobile Love.
I heard him talk to you
On his mobile phone.
He did not know it was me
Behind the newspaper
On the number five bus.
I heard him tell you
How much you meant to him.
I could not hear your reply of course,
But he seemed pleased at what you had said.
He got off at the stop
Where I was due to enlight,
I stayed on the bus I did,
I felt that it was quite right.
I then switched off my mobile phone
And went off to the pictures alone.
It was a very long night.
—
The Poet Known As “Empty Chairs”
Where are you now,
You who is laughing on the photograph,
With a cocky smile,
and a cigarette between your fingers.
Where are you now?
Where are you now
You who is leaning on a tank
In the blazing afternoon sun
You to whom war is an adventure.
Where are you now?
Where are you now,
Proud uncle, father to my cousins,
You such a proud Frenchman
Beating back the bosch.
Where are you now?
Where are you now,
You who was lost in action,
You who never came home again
From the war to end all wars.
Where are you now?
Where are you now,
You whose body was never found
Or was buried in the mud
Along with your dreams.
Where are you now?
Aye, where are you now,
You whose memorial is but a name
Sketched on a crumbling stone,
You, the uncle I never knew.
Aye, where are you now?
—
Jacques du Lumière
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see also Three_Headed_Sarahs site and their son’s days at infant school (re USA kindergarden)
Comments (48)
different eras, yet both made me feel a longing…they shared the thread of loss. different, but similiar. ~jacki
very nice.
I liked these.
Haunting as the shadows, these Poems, Lord Pineapple. Magnifique!
a familiar theme: loss. You do it well.
Exquisite poetry. You’ve giving me cause for pause. I’m too busy thinkin’ to do any drinkin’.
Off to the Sarah’s site for some intoxicatin’ inspiration.
Slan.
Bravo.
~V
You provide such a perfect frame for life. Because that’s what it is, poetry is the frame that draws attention to the art, as subtle or blatent, in life.
~V
My mobile is always turned off because no one ever calls me…lol
Nice poems, I liked your brithday ones too. Belated birthday wishes too. Did you have a cake? Did you have a good day?
in the world of cutting edge electronics, no one ever imagined that what should be private, isn’t….LOL…wonderful poems:)
After my young husband died I could barely withstand the sight of young couples who were so obviously made for each other. It was if I had been a part of a whole and now was a broken off particle. Your poem reminded me of that time and how many long nights I endured until I found peace.
Hope you had a happy birthday yesterday or was it day before. I liked the second poem better ,I think of all the memorials all over the world with names of the dead scratched on them, all for what, to stop all wars, NEVER. i see the first one came up twice. Cheers Marj
I really love SonofJack’s comment, and he’s right. Exquisite poetry. I am partial to ‘Mobile Love.’ That poem is considerably intense, considering its length. Take care Terry.
Peace.
I nearly neglected to thank you for the fantastic poem you left in my comments page on my poem ‘Goals.’ It really is a wonderful poem, and a great cap to my poem. You actually touched fairly well on what I had in mind about false gods when I wrote the poem.
You might consider posting that poem here sometime, so others can enjoy it too. As always…
Peace.
Super poems. I don’t recall “Mobile Love” but the other I remember quite well. Both are really fine and you do capture something in them, just a way of writing that seems to be yours alone. Thanks for such a good read today and as always my best regards and belated birthday wishes.
I hope it was a real circus of fun.
I envy you…you think in lines, in stanza, in images, in metaphor. I would like to be able to do that, but I think in sentences, in paragraphs, in description. I like both these poems for different reasons. The first is a bit like Stephen Crane. The second is from my own life.
Dear Lord,once again your words trigger my minds images and I find myself remote viewing these goings on feeling intensly the emotion evoked and hidden…the other smoky grey as I read…you will be able to bring that one back change battleground to fit presesnt war…blessings ,beckon
One of my all time favorite authors quotes alot from “The Book of Counted Sorrows” your poems do the same thing to me. I cant breath until I finish the last line.
I have actually switched gears on my site….in honor of my favorite holiday! I hope you had a wonderful birthday!
lol! Yeah I’ve changed the background about 4 times since yesterday! I’m working on a birthday post for a friend so I wanted the balloons!
Thank you for what you said about the name thing.I know you understand.If it helps I am sorry for your loss…….CindyQ.
deception and losses of men to war… both sad and common themes for too many
I think the mobile phone one was great….the other one was so sad…
you write beautifully…and sorrowfully….I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again, if you had a book I’d buy it, just to read it over and over.
happy b’day terry
for whenever it was 
i feel a sense of loss presently too…… such is life. 
lovely work as usual 
I like especially the poem of ” jacques du Lumière ” about the war I . Yes , where are they ? .
The other poem is very sensitive too in another ” battlefield ” .
Amitié Michel
moblie love is wonderful, sentiments i share..
Mobile Love was terrible sad, could feel the person pain and sadness.
typically, i prefer not to write “about me,” just many things that I do write about have “me” in them in one way or another. this post, i feel, wasn’t necessarily about me, but rather about Pensive…ness… (if that’s a real word) in the context of me. besides, revealing stuff about myself really isn’t really one of the goals of my xanga. Peace & thanks for the comment and eprops.
Aloha,
The Water Jar
Hoping you will go and read this:
Poem by Robbie Caudle Click Here
LOvely and so timely
I love these…the first one made me a bit sad but it held such a realistic flavor to it…the second…just made me feel so remorseful…your poetry continues to bring out such emotion….
“mobile love”…is definately #1
you are the songbird……..blessings,beckon
what more could i say that these people haven’t already, i am sad to not only read what you wrote but all the comments as well, lord do i ever need to get out of my house lol =)
lovely post by the way
mobile love is powerful…nice work…
I love scary movies, but I love gentle comedys as well. Two of my all time favorite movies were filmed in England. Funny enough in both movies the entire cast were English and only one was American. They are….drum roll, please…….Bridget Jones’ Diary and Notting Hill. Call me a sap but those two movies I could watch at least once a week and never get tired of them!
heard that yesterday was your b-day. happy 23rd!
lisa
I love mobile love
Hello there…you’re a poet and you know it : ) Thanks for visiting my site…I really fancy yours…I hope all is well with you…it’s always nice to make a new friend…
Interesting first poem. I enjoyed it and it made me think of how I walk on campus and see so many with their cell phones walking around as though the phone is controlling them. Something to make one think.
23rd???????????????
I am grateful when people signalize to me my mistakes . So I can improve . Thank you Terri .
Michel
Mobile Love is s-o-o sad! This kind of pain would not be possible without the advent of the cell phone. I hate it how you cannot avoid eavesdropping, and I hate it worse that people are willing to discuss private matters in public…loudly and in front of (or behind or beside) perfect strangers.
Songbirds come in many varieties…You be a MOCKINGBIRD…can mimic many voices…and sing endlessly,and on your birthday you begat a babybird…a one headed one with a BEAR head…the Three Headeds will not be jealous I hope …what a gift…you give everyday,,,inspirations…blessings,beckon
I completely forgot about Shakespeare In Love……I have seen that movie about a thousand times!!!
So sad, these poems. I will always miss and mourn that uncle that Jacques never knew.
I love that you thought my poem a jewel. It made me smile all day! Thank you!
“…If there is no bread then give them cake…” What do you mean no cake!!! I understand about the sweet stuff…not good huh? Roast sounds good to me! September has ‘R’ in the month so am kind of thinking it might have been roast pork and apple sauce. :)
The poem by Jacques du Lumiere was especially beautiful and quite sad. Especially appropriate with all that is going on in the world today. How was your birthday??? Did you do anything FUN?? xo
Very stunning once again…takes my breath away.
*sigh* Thanks for sharing it with us.
moble love needs one of those share plans they offer these days =) most enjoyable ot read