in late afternoon
two men are walking
a man and a boy
the man is talking
intense
the boy silent
they stop
the boy with his back against a paling fence
the man facing him
speaking urgently
a police car slows
pulls in to the kerb
please step this way sir
while I speak to the young fellow
for a moment
yes sir
I'm sure that's right
but just stand here for a moment
thank you
the boy responds
it's all right he's my father
no there's no problem
it's all right
the man
I'm his father
it's not how it looks
there's a situation at home
we were just discussing home
the policeman asks again
yes I'm all right
the police car pulls away
slowly
the man and boy start to walk
in the opposite direction
the man puts an arm around the boy's shoulder
the boy rigid
unyielding
as the last of the sun
fades
leaving a thickening gloom
they turn the corner
and are gone
~
-
Author:
Frank Prem (
Offline) - Published: February 18th, 2018 00:21
- Comment from author about the poem: The Book of Evenings.
- Category: Unclassified
- Views: 13
Offline)
Comments4
This one got to me, I read tragedy into this.
There's a lot going on, GF.
Disturbing...... was the father simply being the father and this was soooo misinterpreted - or was he preying. Mixed up world today.
Very difficult to sort out the meaning of a lot of observed interactions, I think.
Frank,
After having read this
write a few times, I still
cannot make up my mind
of what the relationship
between the boy and the
man is. An open ended
interpretation by the reader!
An excellent thought
provoking write!
Thank you for sharing.
~Laura~
Thank you Laura. It's a moody piece, for sure.
Very disturbing indeed though. Good write!
Hi R. Thanks for your comment. Glad you enjoyed reading it.
No problem, I've been trying to read more of yours and other friends' poems. Sorry I could'n't sooner
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