Fixed 'pedestrians' and 'forlornly', Doug. Surely no more errors. Have been away in Victoria's rocky Grampians mountains and dashed off poem on ipad with limited vision from motel. Can see what Pat and your good self mean about the last stanza. Eminently cuttable. Story comes from an incident years ago in my working life.
Bill
On 29/08/2013, at 1:52 AM, Douglas Barbour wrote:
> I think Patrick's on to something here, Bill. And a few typos, too...
>
> But it's a good narrative...
>
> Doug
> On 2013-08-28, at 12:11 AM, Patrick McManus <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
>
>> Thanks Bill nice tale -was not sure if it needed the last verse??
>>
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: Poetryetc: poetry and poetics [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On
>> Behalf Of Bill Wootton
>> Sent: 28 August 2013 06:39
>> To: [log in to unmask]
>> Subject: Cometh the Hour snap
>>
>> Cometh the Hour
>>
>> So Geoff it was, tow-headed Geoff
>> with his withered arm 'swimming'
>> in the dangling cuff of his striped
>> shirt sleeve, Footscray barracking
>> clerical assistant Geoff, so easily
>> embarrassed, as when fellow
>> office workers twisted the rubber
>> tail of his Wile E Coyote toy
>> so that it looked like a penis;
>> Geoff, of all the six floors of research
>> officers, statisticians and clerks,
>> who saw what needed to be done.
>>
>> A girl sunbaking on her lunch break
>> on a neighbouring city building roof
>> had become stranded when a stray
>> wind gust had knocked over the chair
>> she had propped in the doorway,
>> locking her out; she calling forlorly
>> to pdestrians below. Other eyes gazed
>> on high, fingers stabbed on muting glass.
>> Not Geoff's. As soon as he saw, Geoff
>> finger-flicked the Yellow Pages, found
>> the name of the building, dialled,
>> asked to speak to the caretaker.
>>
>> Geoff, who, getting the runaround
>> on the phone, slammed it down
>> and marched off to the lift lobby.
>> Geoff, who emerged, some fifteen
>> minutes later, from behind
>> the custodian of keys, shuffled
>> towards the girl, extended his good
>> right hand and shook the girl's,
>> before turning and waving
>> and raising his thumb skywards
>> to the darkened glass windows
>> of his workplace.
>>
>> Geoff, who, returning to his desk,
>> coloured slightly as he acknowledged
>> with a dismissive flap of his good
>> arm, the spontaneous applause
>> which greeted him as he
>> resumed his position.
>>
>> bw
>> 28.08.13
>>
>
> Douglas Barbour
> [log in to unmask]
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> http://www.ualberta.ca/~dbarbour/
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> Art is always the replacing of indifference by attention.
>
> Guy Davenport
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