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Thursday 13 June 2013

The Thingy


Shimmering in the curb
it caught my eye from the top
of the house steps, some thirty yards away.
From there it seemed to be at rest. (Later,
I would see the tiny vibrations animating it.)
It lay beside the spot where I had parked
my car, though so obsessed by it was I,
I failed to spot the car had moved --
been moved -- much further down the road.

Closer, I made out that it was brass,
of maybe a hand's length, with three fins
at the blunt end. Along the top was printed
the one word: STATUS, beside which
an orange light, pinhead size, was flashing long,
long, short, long, off. From the object's nose
two jets were spewing thick, hot, bubbling
liquids like two mini oil spills,
one of which, dark brown, evaporated slowly
in the gutter as I watched; the other, yellow,
was disappearing down the nearest drain.

Being on call, I had my doctor's bag with me,
and used my stethoscope to listen to the thing.
Inaudible without my doctor's listening device,
from inside I heard a noise like distant thunder.
That decided me to page a guy I knew who had
some expertise and influence. Janita brought
the bomb squad, calling it an exercise. And that
was just as well, because when they arrived
I and the rest of the road - all my neighbours,
as far as the paper shop -- were sound asleep;
the bomb had split open, and was playing
The Marseillaise , whilst above it
a twenty feet high cardboard elephant was dancing
and waving strings of banana shaped balloons.

Written for The Sunday Whirl from the wordle shown below.

15 comments:

Laurie Kolp said...

Hi, Dave. Great mysterious tone... scary situation.

Brian Miller said...

ha. ended up being some bomb eh...you set the tension nice and then took it away...smiles..viva la revolucion!

hyperCRYPTICal said...

Wonderfully mysterious Dave!
Oh, if only I could find a "Thingy" - what magic would it produce in my mind?
Anna :o]

Tommaso Gervasutti said...

The very title was a blow, the eerie intensity of the "thingy" itself and the conclusion of the "event" totally absorbing with a sprightly visionary force.

Nanka said...

I thought the aliens had landed!! It kept me engrossed from the first line till the end!! The last four lines diffused the situation and took me to celebrate the French national day parade ;)

The Weaver of Grass said...

Your imagination is absolutely incredible Dave - there is only one word to describe this - surreal.

Elephant's Child said...

There are not enough thingys or doo-hickeys in this world. Thank you for giving this one to us - safely.

Mary said...

Dave, the title captured my interest....and the body of the poem held it. Bravo for another creative write.

Carl said...

A wonderful read Dave. I enjoyed this one a great deal.

haricot said...

It is the second time for me to read La Marseillaise in your verses; the former was of your brilliant memory of your friend and this one is a little outrageous.

kaykuala said...

You led us through thrilling seconds, Dave! Mystifying, wondering what it was initially! Great!

Hank

Anonymous said...

This is so intriguing! I was completely glued to your words, great job Dave!

Ygraine said...

My attention was quickly caught and held throughout.
I passed from intrigue, through the allure of mystery, and ended up being downright scared!
A stupendous write Dave.
Really loved this:)

Dave King said...

All
Apologies for more tardiness in getting round to respond.

Laurie
Not TOO scary, I hope! Thanks.

Brian
Ah yes, indeed, come the revolucion...

hyperCRYPTICal
Too true! Aren't we all looking for our own particular "thingy"?

Tommaso
Thanks as always Tommaso. Good to hear your thoughts.

Nanka
Thank you for your visit and your much appreciated comment.

The Weaver of Grass
Thanks for this. Nice compliment!

Elephant's Child
Only too pleased to oblige!

Mary
Thanks for that - esp. the note about the title, not one of my strong points usually, I think...

Carl
Great to hear. Thanks for saying.

Haricot
Correct. Full marks for YOUR brilliant memory. I am impressed. I don't know what it is about The Marseillaise. Must have some latent French DNA in me or something!!

Hank
Much thanks for this Hank.

mindlove misery
Thanks so much for these kind thoughts.

Ygraine
Very generous comment. Really good to receive. Thank you.






Leovi said...

Without a doubt. It's war ... fall from the sky!