My green velvet chair is
small, elegant and
though rather shabby
has her own spirit.
Finds her friends where she can.
In storage shares her cosy lap
with tribes of silverfish.
Reprieved from a trip to the tip
breaks a leg on arrival home.
Stays quiet but firmly resolved.
Learns to balance three legged
on Germaine Greer’s ‘Female Eunuch’
and the New Testament in English and Greek.
Wants to move freely.
Rolling up her skirts
shows a dainty bit of leg.
Is caught trying to skitter across the room
by an ex policeman with
with a shed
full of possibilities.
He has her measure.
But for now his business is with Aegir
god of turbulent waters
whose blessing
he will
this afternoon invoke
upon his whisky distillation.
Later he will bring for me
a taste
and for my green velvet lady
a new limb.
I will raise a toast and watch
as she dances her pas de deux.
© Helen McKinlay
About a year ago I took my green velvet chair out of storage. On the way out I grabbed two books which were floating at random…yes they were the above titles. I was already losing enthusiasm for the chair as she was dusty and had been attacked by silverfish but she has a certain spirit and so was reprieved. Unfortunately, she broke a leg in the removal process. However, the randomly grabbed books were just the thing to keep her upright and she proved quite popular as a sitting place, even though a little lopsided at times. But as you all know a three legged pas de deux is challenging. A telephone call to the ex-policeman changed her life. Funny thing is she seems to have given up dancing now that she has four legs again.
And now I recommend you visit the Tuesday Poem hub, where editor Sarah Jane Barnett has posted an ekphrastic poem, The Noise
in which two startling images are compared. Don’t miss it.
And do please visit the other Tuesday Poets and read the wonderful variety of their poems this week.
gurglewords 