Stuart Buck

spaghetti junction

by Stuart Buck

Tuesday 11th August 2015 4:11 pm (first posted Sunday 9th August 2015 9:50 am)

Dinner times were brutal

The small talk barbaric

We dined from each other

The whole family

Seething

Father would get home from work

And stick his fork

Straight into Mother

His blood boiling

The kettle whistling

I stayed silent

Each of us dreaming

Of ways to die

Dessert was a dish

Always served cold

No time for coffee

Just the bill

The cost of another round

The cost of another days lies

I excused myself

And crept upstairs

Where you would be waiting for me

And as we lay together

Exploring our bodies

Playing each other like instruments

From a far off land

We smiled

Breakfast was hours away

Between then and now

The nectar like release

Of sleep

Of dreams.

(Poem inspired from 'King of Carrot Flowers Pt 1 written by Jeff Mangum)

food and drink

◄ II

Brenda #2 ►

Comments

Laura Taylor

Tue 11th Aug 2015 16:47

Well - I always said it was impossible to pick just one album as your favourite, but yes, it's mine too, and I never thought I'd ever have one.

Nice one :) It's rare to find another fan, and it usually tells me an awful lot about a person if they are a fan, so thank you for the addition :)

We went to see them last year actually - spent the entire gig with me gob on the floor trying not to cry :D

Stu Buck

Tue 11th Aug 2015 16:09

its my favourite album of all time, if one can claim such a thing. i particularly love it for the fact that 90% of people just hear noise. i shall credit young jeff now, it was slack of me really. id never take any acclaim for others work, hopefully ive adapted his work enough to call it my own (ish)

Laura Taylor

Tue 11th Aug 2015 16:02

Aye, thought so! Well, just good manners innit, whether or not he would ever read it? Also just to cover yourself against potential accusations of plagiarism, given how directly you've used the lines.

I once wrote a poem inspired by that same album. It was central to me falling in love with the love of my life, and I think it's a work of genius.

Stu Buck

Tue 11th Aug 2015 15:19

yep, a big fan! his lyrics (especially those from 'in the aeroplane over the sea') are wonderful, as are the feelings they evoke. i'd be very surprised if he reads this, but if he does then credit where credits due. great taste in music by the way!

Laura Taylor

Tue 11th Aug 2015 14:18

I was going to say this MIGHT be influenced by a song by Neutral Milk Hotel, but actually - it is definitely influenced, to the point where several of the lines are almost lifted directly from the song.

Here are the lyrics:

"King Of Carrot Flowers, Part 1"

When you were young you were the king of carrot flowers
And how you built a tower tumbling through the trees
In holy rattlesnakes that fell all around your feet

And your mom would stick a fork right into daddy's shoulder
And dad would throw the garbage all across the floor
As we would lay and learn what each other's bodies were for

And this is the room one afternoon I knew I could love you
And from above you how I sank into your soul
Into that secret place where no one dares to go

And your mom would drink until she was no longer speaking
And dad would dream of all the different ways to die
Each one a little more than he could dare to try

So - are you a fan Stu? If so, a little credit may be due to Messrs Mangum et al.

Stu Buck

Tue 11th Aug 2015 14:11

thanks guys, these are great comments and they really do make the chunks i cut from myself to write these poems worth it.

ray - i am glad you noticed, i was spacing the last lines to evoke sensuality and relief

david - as ever, you are to kind. if you dont leave pieces of yourself on the paper/screen what is the point!

cynthia - its the imaginary release/masturbatory fantasies that transport us away from things when we are young. beautifully harsh is just what i was going for!

Cynthia Buell Thomas

Tue 11th Aug 2015 13:16

This is beautifully harsh.

Why is 'someone' upstairs and not at the family table? Could this be just a fancy, after all, a metaphor for self-exploration? Personal sexual relief in counterpoint to the family realities? Only asking.

raypool

Sun 9th Aug 2015 21:16

great stuff Stu. This is family life at its most threatening, but the ghastly juxtaposition of the sex makes that seem even more appealing as an escape. Very weird and quite upsetting. I especially like the last two lines being spread apart (like legs I suppose)!that does give the poem a kind of powerful resolution.

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