ray pool

HOW THE OTHER HALF LIVE

by ray pool

Tuesday 3rd September 2019 10:14 pm

Eva and Stanley are on sun loungers

Derek and his mongrel have had a bad night in Wigan

Eva and Stanley have a 3000 dollar a night cabin

the weather wasn't kind to Derek and his sleeping bag is soaked through

Eva and Stanley are sailing from Gibraltar on the Queen of the Seas

Derek tries to find a hostel to dry off; he is hungry and has a nasty cough.

Eva and Stanley are enjoying a glass of Bollinger as they gaze out to an azure sea.

The soles of Derek's shoes are worn through

Eva and Stanley are considering their options for the day

some light gambling at the roulette wheel, indoor ping pong,

then a show in the evening after dinner at the captain's table.

Derek has had an accident in his pants, his eyes are sore and his elbows are aching.

Eva and Stanley decide to have sex, doggy style.

Derek has found a discarded copy of yesterday's Times,

he looks up the holiday page, uses it to hold a half-eaten burger he has found

in a bin at the back of a hotel and dreams on.

🌷(5)

◄ THE CURSE OF A NON DRINKER

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Comments

raypool

Thu 5th Sep 2019 20:14

Thanks Don. I did try to avoid any overdone judgments in this poem, as it is really up to the reader to make his or her own. If we get too drawn into the morals of behaviour it just draws fire and then fizzles out in my opinion. You're correct in your analysis, thanks.

HI David. Your take on this is very astute and I would totally agree with it. I'm glad you drew that inference, as it suits the form of the writing which doesn't go anywhere in terms of cures or answers. the insouciance or the couple is way out of my reach thank heavens. Everything should be potential, however frustrated.

Hi Kate, your comment is a nice surprise, as from it you have drawn your own conclusions and made comparisons. Of course I wanted to show opposites, but I feel they have a grotesque quality which I like to portray in poetry!

Thanks all for your wise and close appraisals.

Especially thanks to Rachel Jon and Devon for your welcome reading.

Ray

<Deleted User> (22444)

Wed 4th Sep 2019 12:40

Very powerful Ray - gross inequity is something that I dwell on a lot. Not necessarily to apportion blame, but as a means for recognising the ways in which I am advantaged, and how my life might be different if I hadn't followed a particular path. I really like the way you have written this - gritty and confronting rather than sentimental.

Don Matthews

Wed 4th Sep 2019 00:31

Ray

To me you have simply presented two extremes and how they both now live. How they came about is left unsaid, and is not the point. Eva and Stanley could have worked hard to afford their present lifestyle. Derek could have inherited a fortune but been a wastrel resulting in his present lifestyle. Who is the 'better' person?

You concentrated on comparing the extremes with no mention of how they came about. I liked this approach Ray.

raypool

Tue 3rd Sep 2019 23:17

Thanks for your prompt and full assessment Brian. I am certainly in emotional territory with this, and am offering no solution nor judgment, simply pointing out that life can be a matter of extremes. I agree with you about the obvious conclusions that will be drawn , in the same way existing prejudices can be drawn out if the bait is dangled in that direction. Obviously Eva and Stanley don't need help but they get choices with their money while Derek would have trouble improving his lot. I don't think I can be accused of over simplifying social differences, but nor would I shrink from them. I just think the distinction between the characters here form an idea. However i'll admit I bought a copy of Hello yesterday and was quite aghast at the standard of journalism in it and how trite and self congratulatory the magazine is. But it sells - I bought one( just the once).
Enjoy the estate worker.

Ray

<Deleted User> (18980)

Tue 3rd Sep 2019 23:00

Ray - many people who read this may decide that Eva and Stanley are wicked people who have amassed an obscene fortune by exploiting the downtrodden working class.

They may also decide that poor old Derek has been badly treated by a non-caring society and has ended up where he is through no fault of his own.

Part of the reason for these assumptions is because of the nature of the WOL community, but also partly by the skill of the writer in his choice of names and description of lifestyles.

It's a particularly British trait to despise the striver and lionise the skiver. Of course I could be barking up the wrong tree entirely, and Eva and Stanley are in fact a couple of capitalistic pigs who have put Derek and others like him in the gutter as your piece seems to imply.

Anyway, have a good evening. Me...I'm off to roast an Estate worker.

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