Friday, September 25, 2015

Stu Buck- A Poem


Blink

Wet concrete
I spit out my tooth
Tea stained enamel
Silver filling
Blood follows
I can hear the siren
Its drawing closer
The blood mingles with the rain
The tooth is washed downstream
The ambulance is here
Its midnight
My chariot beckons

I blink
No one sees

He comes to my bedside
And tells me all things must die
I stare through him
At the teeth chattering on the walls
At the decaying bouquets
In the corner of the room
I took his hand
And he smiled

I am four years old
I slip off my stepping stool
And crack my tooth
I am thirteen years old
I kiss Mary Kitts
I feel her tongue in my mouth
I am fifteen
I fall down the stairs
The cat licks my ear
My knight in shining armour
I am eighteen
I am drunk
I fight with my dad
He swings first
I am twenty-one
She breaks my heart
I am twenty-five
The night is stained with semen and sweat
I am twenty-nine
I never saw the car coming
I never stood a chance

I wake up
I see dim light below
It is the birth of a galaxy
I know this
But I do not know how I know this
I blink
The light changes
Enhances
Glows fiercely
I blink
The light turns from red to green
Dozens of smaller lights circle around
I blink
The smaller lights have become sentient
I watch them watch me
They dart in and out of my vision
Some approach me
Some keep their distance
I blink
The creatures have become hostile
I blink
The creatures are gone
I see everything
I blink
A planet appears
It is blue
I move towards the surface
The clouds cushion my descent
They are comfortable
Like pillows
I blink

The impact from the vehicle
Travelling at seventy miles an hour
Flips me into the air
My head crashes first into the windshield
Then the concrete
The sounds I hear envelop me
Screaming
Horns
Whispers
The siren
The beep
The click

I am staring at a blank canvas
I blink
Mountain ranges burst forth from the land
Splitting the world asunder
I blink
Rivers flow
Like tears
I blink
I feel each tree
Each leaf
As it punches through the ground
I blink
I am a bird now
I am everything that ever was
I blink
I see planets
I see galaxies
I see the universe
And I see my wife
Sat by my hospital bed
In tears
Stroking my hair
Begging me
To just wake up

I am seven years old
Chris Rogers is punching me in the stomach
Everyone is cheering
I struggle to my feet
Pick up a rock
And smash it into his face
His teeth fly out
The screams part the crowd
The teacher grabs my throat

I wake up
My wife has gone
Her bag is on the chair next to my bed
She will return to me
As I have returned to her
I blink.



Stu Buck is a chef turned poet living in North Wales. His debut collection is due for release Oct 16. He has a poetry blog @ writeoutloud.net/blogs/stubuck and can now be found embracing the 21st century on twitter @stuartmbuck. He writes a weekly blog for literary magazine Under the Fable which can be found @ www.underthefable.co.uk


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