Tag: free verse

Hose on Charlie’s Nose

Come on Charlie, get ready to be turned on.

I don’t want a hose
on the end of my nose.
I’ll look like an elephant.

O but Charlie, just think,
you’ll be doing a great job.
Your cold water will be cleaning
Button Moon.

Alright Small, just for you.
Go on. Stick it on.

Small, when you’re ready
for Charlie to be turned on
you just call out
and I’ll get soggy cloth.
He spends most of his time
sitting over there in that soap dish.
It’s about time he did some work.

Sorry Captain Large,
I’ve got the other end of the hose
but I don’t know what to do with it.

Get ready to turn him on.
Slurp. Slurp. Slurp.

Oh well done Small.
Now you can press the button,
nice and slow.

Oooooh.

Dialogue from Button Moon episode ‘Hose on Charlie’s Nose,’ 1980s.

I Find the College

I find the college…
infinitely the best in the university;
for it is the smallest,
and it is filled with lawyers,
who have lived in the world,
and know how to behave.
Whatever may be said to the contrary,
there is certainly very little
debauchery in this university,
especially among the people of fashion.

Unattributed quotation in The University of Cambridge, an ‘unofficial history produced by the University of Cambridge Board of Continuing Education for the use of participants in its courses’.

One For You

This seems to be one for you:

date1 July 2009 06:11
subjectThere he sat and cried

hide details 06:11 (6 hours ago) Reply

Hello. Is there perchance!

switchings

Facebook message from a writer friend – thought she was sending me a poem for this blog until I realised it was spam.

Because

That’s why I hit you today,
for the first time in my life.

Because you opened the letter,
because I wanted you to…
because of mother,
because she told you something she didn’t tell me,
because I love you and you are not my daughter,
because everything could have been different,
because the past will never return…

Because of the times you caressed my back
when I cried
candy king

gingerbread page
marzipan princess.

Subtitles from episode 4 of Dekalog.

roads? where we’re going we

roads? where we’re going, we
don’t need roads – game
over man, game over –
these go to eleven – i am serious,
and don’t call me shirley –
i feel the need, the need for
speed – say hello to my little
friend – i’ll have what she’s
having – would you like me to
seduce you? is that what
you’re trying to tell me? – get
busy livin’ or get busy dyin’ –
i’m not bad. i’m just drawn
that way – if the pirates of the
caribbean breaks down, the
pirates don’t eat the tourists
– i’ll be back – may the force
be with you – here’s johnny!

From an advert for DVD shop Fopp in the Cambridge Arts Picture House programme, May 2009.

Pack a Punch

Travel is subject
to National Rail
Conditions of Carriage
NRCoC and to the
conditions of carriage
of other operators
on whose services
this ticket is ( )

Offpeak Day Travelcard, June 2009. The parenthesis marks a word that was punched out by the ticket inspector. Submitted by Andrew.

For When the Numbers Don’t Speak for Themselves

Imagine
a typical reader
looking over your shoulder as you write,
and reacting to your words.
Try to keep this reader interested,
intrigued,
but not baffled.
Try and make
a continuous chain of written thought. Do not
lurch
from
one topic to
another without adequate introduction or
ration-
ale. ‘Discontinuity’ and jumps
in
ex-
po-
si-
tion
are off-putting to your
readers. Hence clear
organisation is very helpful, to the
reader and to the
writer. Unless it is very short,
divide your work
into sections, each dealing
with a CLEARLY IDENTIFIED SUBDIVISION of your topic.
Begin by saying what the project is about;
…
do not give the impression of grinding to a halt because you can not think of anything more to say.

Writing advice in a final year undergraduate project handbook from Bristol University Maths Department, 2009. Submitted by Kat(i)e.