Poetry : Sat 5th Aug
The Bar at the Pleasance Dome was heaving last night. As I savoured a glass of wine at the start of the evening, I pondered where it might lead - and was inspired to write this Cinquin
Alluringly seductive
Tantalising; mesmerising; galvanising
Merriness into debauchery then
Drunkenness
And from then on it was water - satisfyingly thirst-quenching on a particularly hot evening.
I watched people eating. Two women were sharing a bowl of soul food, their conversation arching over the table - invisible, yet tangible. I thought about the effect they were having on the space and came up with this poem -
Is left a little denser
For there,
Where forks speared;
Where knives sliced;
Where food, divided,
Was rejoined in shared experience
Their intimate rejoinders
Filled the space
Between them
Where two forks;
Two knives;
Two paper napkins rested
On their plate.
At another table, a family of three was sitting - I guessed from they way they sat that they'd been trekking the streets, doing the shows and were crashing out. The youngster, particularly looked famished. I watched as the food was served - and smiled as I saw what happened.
Expectant eyes widen -
Taking in texture, form and colour;
Nostrils flare
To sense what's there
On the inside
Anticipation
Hesitation - out of politeness
Not wanting to be first,
Savouring the moment.
Then mouths open,
Letting in savoury air.
Lips close,
Teeth crunch,
Jaws chew,
Tongues roll,
Eyes close
They've had their first taste
Of Soul in a Bowl.
Another couple was seated at a table and for some reason there was an empty clear glass bottle placed on a chair beside them which drew my attention to it and this emerged -
An empty bottle on a chair
... And I felt despair ...
Turn to realisation:
It had a function there!
It was clear ...
Transparent ...
Only there
To bring about a sea change
In the air.
Its contents had helped
Reveal joy -
Where before, there'd been
Despair,
As its emptiness had done.
The lighting in the Bar was particularly atmospheric - and in one area, a spotlight fell on a guy at a table, with pale ginger hair - he lifted his glass of beer -
Flowed over his face,
His chest; his arms;
His hands -
As he lifted the paler glass of amber beer
And colour flowed in -
And over him.