Queen Pin
This month's poem was chosen by Graham Buchan. Graham says of it, "I particularly like this poem because it addresses some uncomfortable human truths and does so with concision, and its central metaphor is well sustained to the end. The brass hinge not only provides an ideal image for the changing dynamics of a marriage, but allows a great choice of words in “the oils of zest and sex” and “screeching background”. That the daughter also becomes a brass pin says a lot about how we take on the characteristics of our forebears. The dual attractions of dependence and independence are caught extremely well. A good, serious poem, well-executed. My only criticism is the positioning of the line breaks."
Find out more about Ross and his work at http://www.writeoutloud.net/poets/rosskightly
QUEEN PIN
As metal moves on metal was how
she remembered them, her parents -
a brass hinge on a brass pin -
the oils of zest and sex must once
have made them quiet and so
harmonious in their movements,
but appetite dulls with feeding,
oils thicken, clog with dust, finally
dry completely up: then his restless
swinging round her fixed point of
home produced the screeching
background to her childhood,
adolescence and later drove her
search for more plastic friends,
companions, lovers - against her will,
though, she found she soon wore them
out, upright, unyielding, bright and brassy
as she was - in her own parched maturity
she stood proud and tall, all shining
invitation, fixity waiting to be hung onto.
Find out more about Ross and his work at http://www.writeoutloud.net/poets/rosskightly
QUEEN PIN
As metal moves on metal was how
she remembered them, her parents -
a brass hinge on a brass pin -
the oils of zest and sex must once
have made them quiet and so
harmonious in their movements,
but appetite dulls with feeding,
oils thicken, clog with dust, finally
dry completely up: then his restless
swinging round her fixed point of
home produced the screeching
background to her childhood,
adolescence and later drove her
search for more plastic friends,
companions, lovers - against her will,
though, she found she soon wore them
out, upright, unyielding, bright and brassy
as she was - in her own parched maturity
she stood proud and tall, all shining
invitation, fixity waiting to be hung onto.
