For VJ Day, in memory of Alan Showering who was taken prisoner and was forced to work on the Burma railway, who never held a grudge against his captors and was someone I was exceptionally fond of


The watchmaker

The watchmaker and I
sat in amiable warmth
the ticking of the clock,
its brass fixtures a gleam
with the final ray of
autumn sun come to rest.

A fire crackled and popped
in an old stone cottage
where countryside was
a verdant, lush green.
We watched flames rustle
finding pieces of
conversation that years
ahead would be rehashed.

When he laughed, he wheezed
a belly flop of mirthful noise
caught up in the choking
of a chainsmokers cough.
Silver and candlelight
lit a dim room, as evening
brought its dark and gloom.

We explored boundaries
of a tenuous relationship
as hands now roughened
spoke of filligree and gold,
accounts of life still to be
reckoned, he beckoned
with humour in a cold room.

A yard arm at six
as stiffened he rose
poured hefty measures
topped with a sigh,
as another day goes by
and we're familiar strangers
lives entangled by
sheer coincidence

of bonds that would one day
break, threads of finest gold
on a chain where
once the clasp is broken
all those nebulous feelings
of self and belonging
are as fragile as a
whispered goodbye
to a watchmaker
who once shone pebbles
he collected on the beach




Poetry by Elle The PoetBay support member heart!
Read 679 times
Written on 2015-08-14 at 20:07

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Jamsbo Rockda The PoetBay support member heart!
A wonderful piece :)
2015-08-19



I agree with Lawrence that this ranks among your best. Sounds like a very heroic and generous guy.
2015-08-16


Lawrence Beck The PoetBay support member heart!
Very, very nice, Elle. It's one of your best.
2015-08-16


one trick pony The PoetBay support member heart!
i couldn't have enjoyed this more. as with so many of your poems, i felt transported to a different, and maybe better, time and place.
2015-08-15



What a lovely memory of a very special person. Your words show us the humanity of the watchmaker. Very well written
Ashe
2015-08-14