ashley capes

poetry & stuff

slow to get there

the new year starts
with a documentary on Stax
and Otis blowing them away
at Monterey

the doors and windows are open
but there’s no breeze,
just more and more heat
as if the sun had hidden it
in house-bricks for later,
and now mocks the moon,
now puts a heavy hand on my chest,
where I have sunk into the couch,
like the slowest of shipwrecks.

(I’ve just realised that I’ve been dating all my poems 2009 for the whole of Jan for some reason – including this one, which was written New Year’s day. Denial?)

ashleycapes

January 17, 2010

poetry

2010, ashley capes, new poetry, new year’s day, slow to get there

10 responses to “slow to get there”

Mark William Jackson

January 17, 2010 at 8:18 pm

Happy New Year Ash. Great images, love the sinking in a couch like the slowest of shipwrecks.

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1. ashleycapes
  
  January 18, 2010 at 1:40 pm
  
  Thanks, Mark, happy new year too! Really happy with the last line
  
  Reply
Alec Patric

January 17, 2010 at 10:34 pm

The ‘slowest of shipwrecks’ is the best line I’ve read in ages Ash. It’s also effective, since we started off with a blistering Otis Reading performing at Monterey (where Hendrix also kicked arse by the way) and this leaves you with the balance of wanting a new year to start off with a bang but being crushed by the old, or is it just heat? Otherwise why shipwreck? So for me there’s this great contrast with suburban heat and ennui and the desire for pristine moments of passion and joy. Which you do find in this poem. Bravo.

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1. ashleycapes
  
  January 18, 2010 at 1:43 pm
  
  Yeah, the Hendrix set was supposed to be amazing too – I’ve never seen/heard it. Must investigate. Wow, Alec, thanks for the deep reading – captured what I had in mind right on. I was a long time considering what/whether to add, but in the end it was probably enough!
  
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Julie

January 19, 2010 at 2:54 am

Excellent poem. You have just described exactly how I’ve been feeling ever since the new year…slow and off balance. Your note made me smile, too. I’m also having a hard time remembering what year it is.

I love how the poem begins with a slow beat. Oh, and yes…the last line is brilliant. Actually, I love the last four lines. “Now mocks the moon” is also fantastic, and the next line picks up tempo just enough to sink me down into the couch like a shipwreck. The word “shipwreck” makes me think of permanence (or at least something that will be down for a long time). It fits the mood of the poem wonderfully.

I’m late…and slow…to wish you a happy new year, but I do hope it’s a great one for you!

Reply
1. ashleycapes
  
  January 19, 2010 at 12:15 pm
  
  Thank you so much for the close reading, Julie! Happy NY to you too! The years move so quickly when we look back (unsurprisingly) but it always makes me stop a minute.
  
  It’s great that permanence comes through, there’s so much that is static about a shipwreck, that I knew it had to be the simile, because it had the added bonus of being slow, through water (the humidity of the room in summer)!
  
  Reply
Gabrielle Bryden

January 19, 2010 at 8:20 am

Excellent poem and love ‘as if the sun had hidden it
in house-bricks for later’ – which is exactly what the sun does.

Reply
1. ashleycapes
  
  January 19, 2010 at 12:11 pm
  
  Thanks, Gabrielle! I know, so crafty, the sun, insidious even!
  
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gnunn

January 20, 2010 at 11:00 pm

This so perfectly captures the hazy feel of summer. The lethargy that is so easy to succumb to. Like Otis, you are blowing them away at the moment Ash!

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1. ashleycapes
  
  January 23, 2010 at 1:28 am
  
  Thank you! I think all this output in thanks to you guys though – I’ve been spurred on so much by everyone in this circle of bloggers
  
  Reply