Gene Wilder's Willy Wonka once asked me
to step into a world
of pure imagination
and I danced to his voice
of sugary imperfections.
The swelling strings drizzled
on top falsetto inflections
captured me childishly
with candy-coated attentions
But even the finest chocolate melts,
and I learned to let purity be
pushed by treacly lyrics
or stern midgets secure
in their fudge-topped zealotry.
It sifts too pretty for me,
powdering my grown-up
infatuations with petty
wants, getting a little messy
What I crave instead's stained-glass contraptions
to propel me past the stretches
of biblical proportion
where light and dark don't mix.
I'm no Idiot, good-hearted
in the veins of Fyodor
or Akira, and I can't see
beyond the pure tedium
of a blurredly driven snow
I like my mental drifts grime-choked and splotched
with some savory do
dropped in to dissolve flossy
confections to a salted soup
of imagined impurity.
This poem is written for We Write Poems prompt two: Singer, Sing me a Song. The music behind the madness is "Pure Imagination" from the movie Willy Wonka. Click the link in the poem to hear it, but be warned you may not be able to get it out of your head for the rest of the day.
11 comments:
I haven't outgrown my pure chocolate fascination ... yet.
;)
I like the confection of sugar and earthiness of grime...really nice how you wrote this Francis. And thanks for letting me see the Gene Wilder version of Willy Wonka. It's been such a long time since I saw Gene Wilder on screen.
"fudge-topped zealotry"
Topped with awesomesauce!
Yes, "even the best of chocolate melts", and I think you'll get your wish. The world is candy "spreckles", all, to be polite! Thanks.
Nice to be reminded. And they're currently hijacking Wilder's voice for some TV commercial (can't recall the product though). I especially like the sweet / grimy contrast. Well done.
I too like the contrast between the sweet and the grimy...this poem has some real texture to it that makes me easily imagine the candy-coated and the grime-covered. Nicely done.
-Nicole
willie wonka, so sad and yet so sadistic. I likes my choc dark and bitter.
One of my favourite movies of all-time. Love how you incorporated it in your poem and put it all together, with such contrasts. Excellently done and well-penned.
You hooked me with the first stanza, and the last stanza is my favorite. I especially like your grime-choked and splotched mental drifts...and how it picks up the snow reference. Nice.
this is pure you!
and you are a pure poet
and a poet is pure imagination...
let's read the title like this:
i'm pure imagination...
how do you like that?
:D
names are just important to names...
poetry talks to hearts!
this is a gem!
@angie I'll still nibble an occasional sweet, but savor and spice are more my thing now :).
@irene That's the wonder of YouTube... it's easy to dig up a lot of those old clips.
@Dan It's the only way to go!
@Neil I like that term "spreckles".
@Ron It was that commercial that jarred the Willy Wonka memories, although I couldn't tell you what the product is.
@Nicole Thanks... It's always good to experience both elements.
@briarcat You and me both
@Rebecca Thanks. The movie left a lasting impression.
@Brenda I'm glad that drift segue worked. I didn't want the Idiot reference to seem like too much of a tangent.
@hb I like it a lot. Thanks for putting it in a new light. That the poem spoke to your heart is the highest of compliments.
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