Friday, July 16, 2010

kontrol



Once a necessary accoutrement,
it hangs hidden, mounted
inside the door well,
an abandoned artillery shell,
naked, deprived of danger.

I slide my fingers
over the cold copper
and think how this veteran
must have doused the cinders.

Perhaps it had been a champion
on the front of a kitchen pyre
or a blitz on a stray cigar ember,
bottom up, in the bed linens.

The rubber hose now lays limp,
impotent at its side, corroded,
rusted from years of containment.

In flaccid abstinence, it stands,
loyal until the moment of truth,
when its soda-acid ejaculates,
like a horny soldier on fire.



willow, 2010



Since I squeezed my last week's Magpie in at the last minute, I thought I'd be early this week. You can't see from the image, but the brand name of the vintage fire extinguisher is "Kontrol", which I thought was an appropriate title for this piece.

To join this week's Magpie creative writing, click HERE.



88 comments:

  1. Actually you describe old fire extinguishers so well. I always think there is something very sad about them - made as they are in the hope that they will never be used.

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  2. Thanks, Marilyn! This one just popped out this afternoon...hot off the press. :)

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  3. Bravo Willow! Standing ovation. For some reason, I liked "deprived of danger" the most.

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  4. Alan, this old fire extinguisher was here at the manor when we moved in 22 years ago next month. I like it so much, I display it in one of my kitchen windows.

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  5. Bravo...well said! I have such a smile!

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  6. Willow,
    I'm likeing the metaphors here!
    Being an old soldier an such. ;)
    rel

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  7. Another winner willow, great job. I have never seen one that old.
    QMM

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  8. You always inspire me with your use of metaphors. Love what you did with this Magpie! I will never look at an extinguishers quite the same. I will always remember your last line, and have to smile. :-)

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  9. Woo! Early . . . and spicy, too! We'll have to go some to match that one, Willow.

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  10. I like this poem Willow and I like that old fire extinguisher too!

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  11. As soon as I read "limp" I knew where I'd take it, and you did!, but so much better than I would've.

    Your words accompanied the photo beautifully.

    - Dina

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  12. Yes, very appropiate for this piece - Great Magpie - perfect title....bkm

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  13. Holy cow Willow! That's quite an extinguisher you have there. Like the poetry.

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  14. I was always fascinated with those extinguishers, tempted to squirt them, just once!
    I have no idea where this prompt will take me, maybe into mischief?

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  15. oh my my my
    that was fabulous
    no one is going to beat that one
    great job of description
    all of it

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  16. Great line, a horny soldier on fire. You must have a special kind of mind to be so full of ideas and write so well.

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  17. This is very exciting Willow..love your post .I followed Marilyn's great post and like a naughty child clicked onto _you're next ! Now I'm stuck there without an entry! Sorry.
    Like a fire extinguisher I should be tipped up down and dealt with!

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  18. Joan, hey, no problem. I can take you off if you like. Or, if you'd like to write an entry, I'll leave you on!

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  19. WOW! And another wow! This is a great Magpie.

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  20. Good old soldier standing firm and true....great Magpie!

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  21. I particularly like this one Willow. It rings bells.

    Bisou, Cro.

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  22. Wills, can you hear me clapping? Good one tit Willow.

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  23. Willow, i really enjoy reading your post... :) AWESOME!!
    keep it up..
    cHEERS~~

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  24. Very nice! :-) I´ll try posting later.

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  25. Woo...that final image of a "horny soldier on fire" is so graphic! A beautiful "study" of a fire extinguisher!

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  26. I own an old fire extinguisher (not quite as nice as yours) but copper with some nice patina ~ you'd like it! And your poem has made me remember mine (he's been in storage in the US for over 8 years!), and now I'm missin' him! I'm beginning to think I'm a magpie! ;-)

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  27. Hard to write about an old fire extinguisher but you have created something good.

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  28. Lovely use of imagery, stylish Magpie.

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  29. Seems there's life still in that extinguisher, Willow! Great poem!

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  30. Another little classic in the Willow manner. I wouldn't want to touch it (the hose) of course, but some materials stiffen with perishment. You tried it for limpness did you Willow? Only asking

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  31. @Alan B. You extend the metaphor nicely, us wrinklies know about this.

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  32. You thought correctly - and wrote superbly. A good read.

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  33. Way Kool!!!!!!!!That's a smoking hot post! Love it.

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  34. Priceless. I will never look at a fire extinguisher the same way again.

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  35. Reminds me of Younger Brother's rather explosive scene in Doctorow's RAGTIME. Hot one, Willow!

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  36. All right, who ARE you? LOL.

    First, thank you so much for your kind comment at my blog. It made me happy.

    You start out so quietly here, like a girl up to no good. You paint a vivid picture, even of something so prosaic. But that last line...well, that's just not fair. What a finish. FOOM!

    It doesn't look as if you much need another follower, but you've got one.

    Oh, and....the line in your profile about birds listening to WBRD made me laugh. Clever one, you.

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  37. Lovely images! I like what you did with it!

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  38. The poetic life story of a fire extinguisher. Well done.

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  39. Fireblossom, you completely made my day.

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  40. Living in Germany, it sounds like we are kindred Magpies, indeed!

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  41. Explosive ending...wow. You do have a way with words. I never knew a fire extingusher could be so interesting!

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  42. The perfect ode to the fire extinguisher. And how true what Alan said - made in the hope that they will never be used...

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  43. Fantastic! I love this poem and felt the same way about it---where had it been used? Who had held it? Also---Thanks for this great prompt!

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  44. Corrina, like I mentioned to Alan above, it was here at Willow Manor when we moved in. It's now proudly displayed on my kitchen window sill.

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  45. I especially like the last line. :-)

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  46. Excellent! I wish more people would see the poetry in those everyday things that surround us.

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  47. Love the photo--another great poem, Willow. Take a bow. Have a great weekend!

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  48. I thoroughly enjoy your poetry, Willow.

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  49. Like some other things in life... you just neva neva know whether they are actually going to work when so desperately needed...
    Great take on the ole fire putter outer!
    :) The Bach

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  50. Love the imagery of the extinguisher passionately ending his own life in a show of his soda-acid power.

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  51. 99% of fire extinguishers never get used. So this lonely sentinel must be chuffed to be likened to a horny soldier on fire even if he never was turned 'bottom up'! Thanks.

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  52. Those extinguishers must experience frustration; they sit primed and ready for ever sometimes until...

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  53. I'm so blown away by your talent. And you're so prolific.

    Thought of you yesterday as I unpacked a box full of woolly socks. I looked at them so longingly. Hard to imagine the weather will ever cool down, but it will, it will.

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  54. HA! This is darn clever, I love it!

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  55. I am so amazed that this poem just 'popped' out-- poets like you are gifted.

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  56. I'm beginning to think you have pictures of me during my time in the Army...

    Er oh...

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  57. I love the word, "accoutrement" and to see t get top billing in the first line of your poem...gives me the chills (good ones)!!

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  58. Exceptional, willow. Sex and death, beautifully rendered!

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  59. You accomplished a lot in just a few lines. I like how you snuck in the bed linens. ;-)

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  60. Am I looking into your poem with too sexy an eye~???? LOL
    Some very suggested phrases, well done!

    Christine

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  61. hahaha! Fantastic my friend! Methinks you might be the magpie queen of marvellous metaphor this week.

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  62. Ha ha! I will never look at a fire extinguisher in the same way. Brilliant!

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  63. Instead of old extinguisher cooling me down, the last line, well, sort of started a fire!!..
    Very clever, indeed...

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  64. Wonderfully written! A great take on the prompt!

    -Weasel

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  65. yowza willow!!! even the lowly fire extinguisher gets the hot willow treatment!! wickedgood!!! steven

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  66. Willow---it seems as if you and I have been thinking along the same lines lately...steamy!! Really good, girl. Great minds think alike, right? Horny soldier, soda-acid ejaculates, bottom up in the bed lines. Wowzer!!!

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  67. you poetry is beautiful... i'm so glad to have found you, through Talk at the Table.

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  68. You have a clever mind, nice perspective on the abandoned fire extinguisher. Also, Great last line :)!

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  69. This was brilliant! I absolutely loved the metaphors. :)

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  70. Dear Willow: Very serious poem! Willow you should lighten up! (not light up! but then again, maybe this is not a bad thing, considering what it is that the old thing on the wall does to one. This photo prompt did indeed do the same thing for (or to) me! What is it about those old Fire extinguishers anyway? They should come with a warning label! I can see this; The curly mustacheo? The "cold copper" !Ohhhh!" a heated sigh. Yes men who can do that even now knew exactly what "romantic love" meant. The last line gave me a deep belly laugh and all-day giggles!Go boldly into that good Knight!

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  71. I felt kinda sorry for the actual old forgotten cylinder, too! Let's hear it for copper and brass..lol

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  72. This was definitely a new way to look at a fire extinguisher. We have one we received as a wedding gift almost 20 years ago. I'll bet it doesn't work anymore - it has been placidly abstinent for quite some time now!

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  73. The last stanza's imagery was magnificent. The whole piece was great. Really enjoyed reading this one.

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  74. There's still life in the aged tool! Fun read!

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  75. You create magic with words. You weave with them and the final piece is always strong.

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  76. I think you are by far, one of my fave, 'real' poets, you have a fantastic way of looking at things, capturing them and putting them down on paper. Are you involved with reading them or anything? I think your poems not only need to be shared on line but vocally as well. they slip great on the the tongue...you know Orson Scott Card? he has an online poetry mag I think you may like: www.strongverse.org

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  77. Great poem. I love the line 'abandoned artillery shell'. That's just what they look like.

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  78. "...its soda-acid ejaculates,
    like a horny soldier on fire." Great line, Willow!

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  79. a true classical piece and that last line...priceless!

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  80. very vivid and abstract feelings.
    love the fanciness in your words.

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  81. WHOA ! Brilliant wordplay!
    Loved your style.. and the apt description! An excellent tribute!
    Thanks for sharing...

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  82. Tell the truth, Willow.

    When you wrote this poem the first time, that last stanza had the word "flaccid" instead of "placid".

    Didn't it?

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  83. Heh-heh, I think I'll change it back!

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Inject a few raisins of conversation into the tasteless dough of existence.
― O. Henry (and me)