MAGPIE 131
Under Windsor Bridge, 1912, by Adolphe Valette
Photograph courtesy Tess Kinkaid, Magpie Tales on Blogger
He cuts a lonely figure
This man
Standing on the bank of the
Irwell River
No one will ever know
His thoughts
As he watches the Mersey Barge
Chug past
Maybe his mind thinks of
Gabriela de Bolivar
His beautiful wife murdered
By consumption
Sound of water and taste of fog
Assaulting him
Grimy swirling invading smog
Engulfing him
The dirt and smoke of industry
Does not
Deter this Frenchman's lust for
Manchester city
Barbara M Lake
©
Trinidad, WI
August 2012
Nice. Love the personal knowledge of Manchester you inserted.
ReplyDelete"His beautiful wife murdered
ReplyDeleteBy consumption"
That is wicked cool! Really nice write.
Nicely worded, conjuring up images of the loneliness of grief - the picture has prompted some excellent posts this week
ReplyDeleteYou did a good job interpreting this, Bee. You'd think something so atmospheric and compelling would bring on the words just naturallly but I totally struck out on this one this week. Still striking out. Can't generate a blessed thing.
ReplyDeletenice...i would not mind a visit to the city...though the wife taken by consumption is tough....
ReplyDeleteThis is way high on the list of sad luck for the wife for sure. very vivid and excellently written except for the faint of heart! Nice post!
ReplyDeleteHi! I enjoyed the way you took aspects of Valette's life and turned them into a lovely poem.
ReplyDelete♦ I could almost taste the smog myself! Beautifully crafted. ♦
ReplyDeleteGabriela, his fellow-student and artists' model, Manchester, the Irwell,
ReplyDeleteyou have made a poem based in real facts, in Valette's life, so good!
The first stanza sounds like the beginning of one of those songs by Mark Knopfler.
:)))
Thank you everyone for your comments all of which are much appreciated as always. Apologies for lack of individual replies but work and bad weather took presidence over all else this week. Welcome aboard to new followers - it's lovely to see you and I'm thrilled that you've decided to come on board. Thank you.
ReplyDelete