Tomorrow, a large poem byTerry hisself.
Looking Into the Mirror of His Life.
He looked into the mirror of his life,
And saw that inside the mirror
He was a girl.
This was a great shock to him, you know,
For he had never fancied men,
And not since he was a child
Growing up in the valleys
Had he done anything
Remotely a bit girlish.
Yes, he was gentle, that’s true,
Good with children,
And boyo, could he make a great souffle!
But still he didn’t expect to see
Inside the mirror of his life,
Same name, same hair, same smile
But as a girl.
He saw himself naked bach,
And yet felt no urge,
It was as if he was looking at his own twin sister
There, in the mirror.
He watched himself
Slipping on a dress and giving a whirl
And then an embarrassed adult giggle
As if a God had caught her
With the sin of self-desire.
He put on make-up, aye,
And picked up a handbag
And went dancing into the streets
Of his, her, native Cardiff.
Was she conscious that he, her, whatever,
Was looking at her so diligently like,
And indeed, not missing a breath?
If she was aware,
(And honestly bach, how could she be?)
She took it all in her stride
In the mirror
The mirror of his life
Partly played backwards
From the moment he had died.
—
The Poet Known as “Empty Chairs”
Comments (50)
Will respond to your previous comments tomorrow.
Oh this is lovely and amazing.
and you are too
wow….this one is amazingly beautiful….Not amazing that you wrote something beautiful….from the first paragraph I (shamefully) was expecting a joke, but you blew me away
thanks.
Always the zinger…always the twist. That is why I so look forward to your poetry!
interesting the role reversal…
you are amazing, I wonder how many people are surprised someways of what body we turned up in… our minds, do they really have a gender?
beautiful.
Mirrors … that word has haunted me for the last few days, and now it is here. Mirrors … a self made creation that gives power to the illusion we hold in our minds. How do we live like this at times? (I ask myself quite a bit)
Regardless of my own personal ramblings … I hope this finds you well.
Thou art tenderly Brilliant~
Peace!
To look in the mirror can be a shock, and the reflection is never the real one but a reverse image.
“And boyo, could he make a great souffle!” You’ve made a beaut here.
this post has been rated pg-13 by the xanga police … did you hear about that?
intriguing, as so many of your poems are. Take care
Haha, it is your choice, good sir. And I actually visit everyone in my blogrings.
I love the word you chose: boyo
and I am a bit obsessed with the line at the end: The poet known as “Empty Chairs”
where is that from? is that something you came up with?
I like the sound, the picture it makes in my mind. The poet know as “Empty Chairs”
~lisa
Interesting twist while being quite lyrical.
almost autobiugraphicL FOR ME CHANGE A WURD OR TWO HERE & THERE I WOULD IMAGINE “SHE” WONDERS HOW HE CAN SEE JUST CURIOUS…THANK U MAGI
Is empty chairs a welshman /woman. Your different personalities never cease to amaze me ,good as usual. Cheers Marj
This poem is exceptionally beautiful and was most intriguing for me to read. I haven’t read one of yours of this caliber in a long while. Thank you.
Peace.
irt~ it could mean that i guess now that i read it over, i had a feeling you would be the only one to say that too, maybe thats why i left it like that.
also i forgot to comment on this before when i read it, but i say the sarah’s had a post and just went to that after this one, the pirce you pay my lordP for having so many different characters in your cast, emtpy chairs has left me wanting to take a seat and sit to ponder.
{-.-}/
I love this possibility.
your imagination…your ability to
turn your words into life…
not afterthoughts…but thoughts….
Thank you
i knwo we cannot controll them, but sometimes, i wish we could
hehe
What a twist! Thanks for stopping by my site. :}
that was quite nice…i have never heard anyone use the word ‘boyo’ before. interesting.
The crossing of the hitherto forbidden boundaries that gender was confined to is something I really like about our time…I’d like to see everybody cross dressing in whatever way they want and when they feel like it. Executives should go to work in pinstriped skirts and heels, wearing mascara and red lipstick if they like, and no-one should even care or particularly notice (because they’re all cross dressing themselves, depending on their fancy any given day….). See what vistas of possibilities your poem has opened up……
mind boggling, my dear fellow. Thank you for bending reality for me once again.
a very interesting piece you’ve scribed here ~ jack
Your comment on the Xanga filtering issue in another blog. Hey idiot. It’s not about religion or race. It’s about kids looking at porn.
If you post porn and my kids read it, guess what? I’m going to sue you. You want freedom? So do I. And I have the right to litigate against anyone shows my kids porn.
Crawl back under your rock. I’m not religious. But your blog still sucks. Your other one too.
Lord Pinapple, You are my hero.
OhhatHandsomMan…Why don’t you grow up and get a life? I HATE you right wing sneeze-balls. Screw you, you suck big-time. I have suffered the likes of you, bullying little shit-bags, the whole of my life, I will suffer you no more. Let me hope I will never met you you wanker.
The first to the knife eh? Let’s duel like gentlemen or are just a big-mouthed coward?
So when the clock is turned upside-down, it reads your time?
great poems! congratulations on your win! =)
I’m not sure. I suppose all that passion would then get directed toward someone else or possibly no one else. Maybe I wouldn’t even know any better if there was no Bob, God help us.
~lisa
come on Luv…No one has the style and the precise timing that you have…
you shock me at times with how goddamned talented you are.
why did you never publish ooodles and oooodles of poetry anthologies? oddly enough, I think the voted absolutely right on you.
I will not ask how your Turkey Day was as I know the UK does not of course celebrate the holiday. I hope that you’re OK. I haven’t seen you on Yahoo at any point today…
An amazing piece.
He’s an Aussie? ‘e’s givin’ the Aussies a bad name, mate. My advice: don’t take a knife to a gunfight. Now an American high school student with a Barret .50 caliber sniper rifle…. I’ll see what I can find and have her serve as your second.
So many cameras, so little time. I’m not sure what I want in a digital camera just yet. I’m not yet ready to make the swing to digital. Maybe by the end of next year I’ll have one. I’ll keep you posted.
People haven’t heard the term “boyo”? I heard it several times while growing up, but I’m not sure where.
Later.
Jim
wow, amusingly disturbing, shocking, as per usual.
Ooo…we do seem to be becoming more androgynous, as time goes by. I’m okay with that, since so many of us are forced to play “both” roles that society usually assigns to one or the other of the genders.
Ask any single mom…
Why am not subscribed to you? Must remedy that situation right now!
Peace and Love…GFW
ahhh……bakelite……Who woulda thunk it?? really….so you drink coffe from it instead?
I am sometimes disturbed when I look in my mirror for I seem to see a strange old woman. I don’t feel like a strange old woman. Inside, untouched, I am the girl with an apple and a book reading on a hillside.
wow. do you think i have enough time to read that?
I meant to say that your writing reminds me of another Terry, Terry Pratchett.
Don’t effing read it then if it takes up vibrator time!
ryc: Thank you, my Darling Lord. *never one to miss a sideways compliment!*
GFW
WOW…I’m in awe…Sassy
This is brilliant and something that has yet to be accepted in a society, dont you think?
My Good Lord of the Barb-wired Tart Fruit, you honour us all with every single solitary piece of writing you publish to any of the Three sities you maintain. Thank you for considering me worthy of reading my work, twice over. The power of the Druids shall stand by your side if that Down-Under-Head-Up-Ass S.O.B. doesn’t leave you the bloody hell alone and starts more actual bulls*** with you. He will wish his father never stole that first kiss from his mother! He will find no good will come from carrying out his threats. I offer you my services as a Master of the 4 Elements. Ask and ye shall receive anything within my capabilites. Your cause is just and I will defend you, if you desire my assistance anytime.
Your poem made me think about another similar scenario. What if we all saw each other as we REALLY are?? We all have things that we don’t want anyone else to know about. That would be interesting. It certainly would take a lot of self-righteous people down a peg or two!!
I read the poem and was caught up in thinking about it. I thought it was very good. Actually what I felt was, here is a man who has it inside himself to feel what a woman might feel and understand it. He didn’t fall apart or swear but went out into the world to enjoy what he could of the reversal and get an idea of what she might enjoy. It would be good if we could all role reverse at times.