Better or worse?
Worse.
Maybe if you massage it a bit...
Worse.
You’re beyond help’s reach.
I could squeeze it till numb, and it’d still be worse.
When did it start?
When will it stop?
You’ve got no answers?
I’ve only got questions.
Questions start the ball rolling...
I’d like it to stop.
First, try to start.
I’ll start tomorrow.
Would that be better?
No, worse.
I didn't do a very good job of writing to this week's Poetry on Wednesday prompt. Rallentanda posted two music clips: Martha Argerich performing Bach on piano, and Anoushka Shankar playing sitar while accompanied by a violinist. Such music tends to set my mind wandering (a dangerous thing), and the latter struck me as a kind of conversation. Having spent the past week immersed in Samuel Beckett plays (there's a wonderful 4-DVD set called, originally enough, "Beckett on Film," which includes his 19 plays), this dialog is what popped out. It's derivative and not very deep, but it succeeded in its mission to amuse myself. There's a musicality to Beckett's language, which I admire greatly.
12 comments:
Funny. I smiled throughout the piece, Francis. The eternal pessimist runs through this you. Is that you, or Beckett? :)
~Brenda
I like the way your mind works, Francis.
Poor man! Maybe I should be ashamed to admit that I don't know Beckett's works. Perhaps I would find them too depressing?!
Your poem does indeed capture the musicality of one of Beckett's exchanges, such as those in Godot. There was period when I tore my hair out trying not to write like Beckett.
There's some gems in that film series. Two of my favorites are Rough for Theatre II and Rockaby.
The only things I know about Beckett are that he was good looking and was a francophile and wrote in French ( I think )Waiting for Godot stopped me in my tracks..actually your poem reminds me a little of that sort of dialogue. What draws you to Beckett?
@Brenda I think it's mostly Beckett, but I share a little of his outlook.
@Viv Thanks... after all these years, I've learned to accept it :).
@Derrick Some are very dark, but some of his pieces have a lot of humor too. Godot, especially, is very intentionally comical. Some of his shorter pieces were inspired by Keaton and Chaplin.
@Mark This was definitely inspired by the dialog in Godot. I'm only through the first two discs, but I look forward to checking out those two pieces.
@Rall He wrote in both French and English. I think he lived most of his life in Paris (he was part of the Resistance during WWII). I'm drawn to his use of language, which he strips down to the bare essentials, and the brilliant psychological insights he draws out in pieces such as Not I. Then there's the dark sense of humor, which I always appreciate.
Great similarity to Beckett's style. The exchange put me in mind of Waiting for Godot but also with a hint of Endgame to it.
I have trouble with the category of drama that seems to be about itself. it requires too much mental subtlety for me to simultaneously suspend disbelief and examine why there are people speaking in complex concepts and monosyllables.
on the other hand, it makes for a good poem.
@Stan The banter of Didi and Gogo was playing in my head as I wrote this.
@Barbara Beckett is definitely not everyone's cup o' tea, but I have a tendency to utter both monosyllables and complicated concepts in the same sitting.
there is always more sense in the nonsense... no?
when i was a child, we children had a nonsensical game... we opened our arms and turned round and round... spinning as fast as we could... then at one point we would lose our balance... and we'd fall down... then came the attempt to stand up... and boy! i really loved that part!
understanding is a sort of standing... no?
:D
well... i loved this work... for the same reason...
First 4 lines and last 2 might pass for Beckett. I stop there as I can't go on.
Beckett wrote in English and turned to French as it was a language without style - probaly true and suited to his "style". He later returned to English at the suggestion of his American publisher in an effort to find renewed energy.
Anyway he was, of course, Irish and fled the place for artistic freedom - ala Joyce whose daugther he sort of dated. Small world.
But then again "the sun rose having no alternative on the nothing new". Happens all the time.
He is one of the most positive and funny (in a way) writers of all time. Where's the depression????
@hb Sometimes we have to make ourselves dizzy in order to appreciate balance :).
@Anon I agree for the most part that his work can be very positive and funny, but there are some rather bleak pieces mixed in too. Krapp's Last Tape, comes to mind first. Happy Days, despite the title and some very funny moments, would be considered depressing by a lot of viewers. He makes references to suicide in several of his pieces, and they all have an Existential quality that some people don't appreciate (though his world view is very much in line with my own, at times).
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