July 05, 2006

Darling Teddy

Sleepless within the stronghold of night glow,
I spot its head poke up behind my weary bedmate.
Darling is dutiful, well-worn, but smug,
with a soft throttle made to squeeze,
too wanton for marriage and too wary for whoredom,
but perceptive without gold ring or red carpet.
And its button eye shines briefly, as if to say Watch.
And each flicker honors her movement.
And each new position is an eye opener.
The long-lived companion, the queer, patched thing
held head-scissored, wedged in the southland,
this fellow traveler--strange, fuzzy thingamabob--
is eyewitness to this night's desolation.

3 comments:

Richard Epstein said...

I'm suspicious of the title. The presence of the word "Teddy" there suggests a last-minute fear that your audience might not understand if you don't provide a blatant clue. But they will. Trust them.

I especially liked "The long-lived companion, the queer, patched thing," which reminded me of James's late description of Death, "So this is it at last, the distinguished thing." I didn't care quite so much for the last half of the last line--"desolation" is too heavy handed for the context.

RHE

Agnes said...

Wonderful to see you in my humble corner of the cyber forest, Richard. You're dead on about the title.

Agnes

Agnes said...

I think this blog may be haunted. I posted that reply 3 days ago, and it's just now showing 2 comments. Hope it's a friendly ghost...

Agnes