Acorn Live: [acornlive] And His Own Knew Him Not by Liam Ronan

[acornlive] And His Own Knew Him Not by Liam Ronan

Liam Ronan

acornlive@dublinwriters.org

Fri, 8 Jun 2001 19:29:12 +0100

This is a multi-part message in MIME format. ------=_NextPart_000_014C_01C0F051.4C1F22A0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="Windows-1252" Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable And His Own Knew Him Not by Liam Ronan =20 The bank audit caught it. I knew I'd bought it. Fired for=20 fiddling funds. Fixed them though; quite a show! Paraffin oil, a match; Scratch. Poof!=20 What proof? Now who's laughin'?=20 *** Had a hard scrub; fumed off to the pub, long on thirst,=20 short on cash; cursing the shivery rains,=20 rheumatic pains; and, damnable dart game got me seated in the snug -capacity four- next to one crashing bore who, insisting it his round, ordered a porter; and, without a sound, slid a toasted tomato and cheese =20 ("Lea & Perrins?"=20 "Please!") sandwich my way. Ate the offer straightaway to avoid offence; motioning for him to pass the pepper as gut and gullet,=20 sullen, gagged on sodden supper. Staring wetly, wan;=20 curling up casually; the man slothfully sipped an ice and ouzo;=20 while I, held hostage=20 to time, space; and, social grace, crunched on cashews contriving escape. No name offered, but bloodless lips=20 proffered, firm and feral, a proto-mantra =20 more probably born =20 of mendacious mind =20 than Teilhard's dusky or Darwin's dusty kind. Plaguing my head=20 with what he said,=20 I sensed words prowl, growl, howl; encircling the bar brass fires and, jade lamp spires; pheromones phrasing. *** "My eyes abhor the sacrifice, sober night, vigil light; gilded guilt, religion's blight; eunuchs and their chains; the devils of Dostoevski. Brook no =91-ism', schism,=20 ethos, or wisdom which=20 slavers simple sentiments, knackered notion, nuptial devotion,=20 filial thrall, country's call.=20 When kingdoms collapse=20 divisions fall;=20 then, come clarion call, beware, despair=20 meat-eater, breast-beater, backbencher, pensioner, petrol consumer, and societal tumour! Euthanised; cauterized herded, culled, by chaos and calamity,=20 only the worthy shall survive. I am the ancient Aquarian, Contrarian, Proletarian; vegan, pagan, Fagin with teeth=20 gathering those truly alive to thrive by my side=20 while we eschew eternity. Think thoughtfully; once resolved, doubts dissolve. The way is not hard. Here's my card. Do ring!=20 Don't disappoint me!" *** Bade him good night; as space was tight, in brushing by, I nicked his wallet. I'll call tomorrow;=20 just to see.=20 The old goat may pay a finder's fee. -------------------------------------------------------------------------= ------- This poem has been submitted for publication as of this writing, i.e. 8 = June 2001. Comments welcome by the author. - LiamRonan@esatclear.ie -------------------------------------------------------------------------= ------- ------=_NextPart_000_014C_01C0F051.4C1F22A0 Content-Type: text/html; charset="Windows-1252" Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable <!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN">

And His Own Knew Him=20 Not
by Liam Ronan

The bank=20 audit
caught it.
I knew I'd bought it.
Fired for
fiddling=20 funds.
Fixed them though;
quite a show!
Paraffin oil, a=20 match;
Scratch. Poof!
What proof?
Now who's laughin'? =
***
Had a=20 hard scrub;
fumed off to the pub,
long on thirst,
short on=20 cash;
cursing the shivery rains,
rheumatic pains;
and, = damnable dart=20 game
got me seated in the snug
-capacity four-
next to one = crashing=20 bore
who, insisting it his round,
ordered a porter; = and,
without a=20 sound,
slid a toasted tomato
and cheese
("Lea & = Perrins?"=20
"Please!")
sandwich my way.
Ate the offer = straightaway
to=20 avoid offence;
motioning for him
to pass the pepper as
gut and = gullet,=20
sullen, gagged
on sodden supper.
Staring wetly, wan; =
curling up=20 casually;
the man slothfully sipped
an ice and ouzo;
while I, = held=20 hostage
to time, space; and,
social grace,
crunched on=20 cashews
contriving escape.
No name offered,
but bloodless lips=20
proffered, firm and feral,
a proto-mantra
more probably = born
of mendacious mind
than Teilhard's dusky = or
Darwin's=20 dusty kind.
Plaguing my head
with what he said,
I sensed = words=20 prowl,
growl, howl; encircling
the bar brass fires
and, jade = lamp=20 spires;
pheromones phrasing.
***
"My eyes abhor the = sacrifice,
sober=20 night, vigil light;
gilded guilt, religion's blight;
eunuchs and = their=20 chains;
the devils of Dostoevski.
Brook no =91-ism', schism, =
ethos, or=20 wisdom which
slavers simple sentiments,
knackered = notion,
nuptial=20 devotion,
filial thrall, country's call.
When kingdoms collapse=20
divisions fall;
then, come clarion call,
beware, despair=20
meat-eater, breast-beater,
backbencher, pensioner,
petrol = consumer,=20 and societal tumour!
Euthanised; cauterized
herded, culled,
by = chaos=20 and calamity,
only the worthy shall survive.
I am the ancient=20 Aquarian,
Contrarian, Proletarian;
vegan, pagan, Fagin with = teeth=20
gathering those truly alive
to thrive by my side
while we = eschew=20 eternity.
Think thoughtfully;
once resolved, doubts = dissolve.
The way=20 is not hard.
Here's my card. Do ring!
Don't disappoint=20 me!"
***
Bade him good night;
as space was tight,
in = brushing=20 by,
I nicked his wallet.
I'll call tomorrow;
just to see. =
The old=20 goat may pay
a finder's fee.

This poem has been submitted for = publication=20 as of this writing, i.e. 8 June 2001. Comments welcome by the = author. -=20 LiamRonan@esatclear.ie