A bit of a problem poem , this one, Bob.
Extended metaphors are always demanding upon reader sand writer I find
What I find teasing is the intention.
Is it Christmas as potentially a runaway articulated vehicle to be feared
and hated for the fear it generates, an anti -Christmas tirade?? Knowing
your calling I wonder if that is so.
Or is the red truck the winter solstice the point due to reverse the long
nights and bring back fire and warmth to our skies, again slightly pagan and
not sure.
Perhaps its both and neither, which would leave me gasping. I'll trouble
over it a little more.
Just one nit. In strophe three 'telling ' and 'telly' are rather close, that
is physically in the poem. perhaps warning = telling would help.
one last thought ' darkness to darkness' does hint at the solstice a little,
Regards Arthur.
----- Original Message -----
From: "Bob Cooper" <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Monday, December 08, 2003 3:09 PM
Subject: New: The Red Truck...
Here's one for some C&C:
The Red Truck At The Heart Of Winter
December's a 38 ton articulated truck
full and powering down from way up north,
snow almost as solid as ice in its wheel-arches
and the sky it hurtles under is cast-iron cold
and you hope it speeds on, that motorways,
dual-carriageways, roads with well lit signs
will keep it in motion - if it hisses at lights
you can stand well back, long for it to move,
recreate its momentum over trembling miles
and not slew into the warmth of a house,
become a wall with no fireplace, just the telly
and a newsreader telling of ice on the roads -
let its rumble merely quiver the streets
as it keeps on trucking through dark nights,
that its tail-lights will reassuringly gleam
distancing you from such fearful weight,
because it's not on an endless journey -
eventually there's a ramp where it will squeal,
beep and reverse before it's back doors open
and gloved hands will tug, lug out its heavy cartons,
drag its cargo from darkness to darkness
and inside each pack, yet more boxes inside boxes
that will be rewrapped to become awkward or pleasing
in homes by fingers unaware of the cold.
Bob Cooper
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