Not for those of a nervous disposition! Happy Halloween at the end of the month.




The Old Wooden Shed

 

what a fool I am
forgetting the house keys
just like that
I wonder
will she be back tonight
after that row we had
who knows
the mobile's flat
and all I have
for shelter is
the old wooden shed
not locked
thank goodness
I sit
hunched
inside
on the garden chair
fumbling for matches
to light the lantern
damn it
they are all damp
at last it lights
with the last one
this gives some heat
but the cold
and the damp
start to grow along my spine
slowly
sinuously
insidiously
from disk to disk
I bolt the door
from the inside
still it rattles
old blades
saws
chisels
choppers
screwdrivers
chitter
chatter
as the wind
under the eaves
meets the draught
from the floor
my feet freeze
it's only the end
of October
the gas runs out
no moon
no light
the street lamp is shrouded
by autumn leaves
yet to fall
damnation
when will she be back
is she doing this on purpose
something drops on the roof
I'm sure it did
the spiders curl into
tiny tiny balls
the mice are long since gone
behind that old webbed chest
my grandad's tools
keep rattling
along the wall
in and out
the draught
suck and blows
I can't be afraid
a grown man
reduced
to the child within

the window
shatters





Poetry by Peter Humphreys
Read 746 times
Written on 2010-10-04 at 18:35

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Stan Cooper The PoetBay support member heart!
Interesting poem Peter...

I suspect the child within never totally leaves

Stan
2011-03-05


Rik The PoetBay support member heart!
Wasn't suspecting that ending. Fits perfectly with the Stephen King book I am reading! Great write, really enjoyed it.
2010-10-07


NicholasG
Twenty-first century Edgar Allen Poe...read by Vincent Price....
Nope!! I think I'll wait for dawn to get some sleep :-)
Lovely build up to the final three words.
Thank you Peter.
Nick
2010-10-05


shells
Men and their sheds, I reckon the wife had a hand in this! Great piece for Halloween great build up to the final two lines.
2010-10-05


jenks The PoetBay support member heart!
gosh Peter i shall keep my keys firmly in hand come halloween !
you write delicious snapshots of life.
2010-10-04



Peter, a great tale of Man's three greatest primal fears:

things that go bump in the night
the wrath of The Wife
flat mobiles

Not necessarily in that order.

jim

ps http://www.youtube.com/watch? v=RFz2S8o8_OU

(Nick Drake's great song, "Man in a shed.")
2010-10-04