Valves thread slick,
smooth, twisted,
heady at the screws;
fluids rush wide, burst
inside a mutual aqueduct.
Nipples, elbows, flanges
fuse, adapters bow hot,
melding raw tongues and grooves
of male and female tanks.
Familiar fittings of lips,
traps, pipework rusted
in a time-locked core; patina
of trusted copper oxide.
It would take
more than a plumber’s saw
to disengage us now.
Tess Kincaid, August, 2010
Come join the fun at Magpie Tales creative writing blog.
A wonderful affirmation of a unique relationship! Very clever!
ReplyDeleteLOVE it!! I love how you make something so cold into something so soft and warm, by using two things we all can identify with on sight.
ReplyDelete:)
I'll never look at rusty pipes the same again!
ReplyDeleteI read a comfortable familiarity between the two.
Excellent!
ReplyDeleteThat was great. Of course!, with all my licking of metal, I should've headed toward the sensual!? And here I am thinking about death. Huh...very clever, you are.
ReplyDelete- Dina
'...patina of trusted copper oxide' in that aging bond is something truly beautiful.
ReplyDeleteVery clever composition. Cold water from the outside, perhaps?
ReplyDeleteA WONDERFUL use of picture and words!
ReplyDeleteA very talented woman you are! XOXO
That's wonderful, willow. Love the
ReplyDelete...fluids rush wide,
and burst inside
and
melding raw tongues
and grooves...
Was taking photographs of cast-iron drainpipes myself a few days ago. You have taken them to another level.
Excellent. Fantastic use of plumbing accessories.
ReplyDeleteWillow, how fortunate you are to have received such good responses to your rather sexually overt but clever coupling plumbing poem.
ReplyDeleteYou must give me the secret of how to keep the sexually disturbed
bloggers at bay!
Brilliant writing, Willow! Love it!
ReplyDeleteyou made me smile.
ReplyDeleteSensual piece and what a great take on the prompt.
ReplyDeleteRallentanda, I do have the most excellent readers.
ReplyDeleteAnother hot magpie! An most excellent conceit!
ReplyDeleteVery cool look at a lasting relationship!
ReplyDeleteDelicious and quite sexy I think.
ReplyDeleteSensuous rusty pipes...amazing! What a clever blend of plumbing and sex.
ReplyDeleteI dare say you could get any plumber to fall in love with you. For some a way to their heart is food, for plumbers it's nipples and elbows and flanges and fues...oh my.
ReplyDeleteWow, that was wonderful. I say, that one stumped me. I made a couple of false starts, and at last found a way...does that ever happen to you?
ReplyDeletegiving something inanimate human qualities - and body parts--is so creative and makes me wonder just what this poem is about :-)
ReplyDeleteyou left out 'steamy fitting' but the rest is so great I'll let that pass. ;-) Love the ending. It seems rightly inevitable.
ReplyDeleteCoupling in all relationships.
ReplyDeletePerfect!
ReplyDeleteLove the relationship / ancient (forever) piping analogy ..
ReplyDeleteThis is marvellous, Willow. You lead us down one path and then, like the masterful poet you are, reveal a whole new one to us. Your interpretation is a delight.
ReplyDeleteyour poem is so true to old pipes and fittings... just leave them alone and the work fine....but thinking they need replaced can lead down a rabbit trail of problems! :) The Bach
ReplyDeleteha loved it!
ReplyDeleteMelding raw tongues! Awesome. I love it! The voice works beautifully. The ending is fantastic.
ReplyDeleteAND... they look about my age! So sex in the later years is cool? LOL
ReplyDeleteOh yes - willow - you have certainly hit the nail on the head here.
ReplyDeleteOhhh... Sexy. Never thought I'd say that about pipes.
ReplyDelete"a mutual aquaduct" -- exceedingly evocative...
ReplyDeleteI like poetry hot.
ReplyDeleteLove under my sink -- barbara
ReplyDeleteYou filthy cow! Good job you didn't mention 'sweated lead joints'! Mind you, I expect it's only the old boys who know how to do that these days.
ReplyDeleteWonderfully written! Excellent magpie!
ReplyDelete-Weasel
Indeed! "a mutual aqueduct" that gets on very well through time is truly difficult to break apart.
ReplyDeleteThis is a short, more honest than unsentimental record of human bond.
and a title so fit to string the whole piece together..
oh Willow - I love this one - and my favorite lines are...It would take more than a plumber’s saw to disengage us now...
ReplyDeleteDear Willow, I never thought of plumbing as romantically sexual........until now that is!!
ReplyDeleteEnjoy a happy and relaxing weekend.
This is good. Fantastic, even. How go the poetry competitions?
ReplyDeleteWow! Hot! Where is that fire extinguisher! XX
ReplyDeleteI love the way you make these rather homely pipes sing with passion
ReplyDeleteI agree with Violet, you give rusty pipes a whole new meaning! ;-)
ReplyDeleteYep that is our story. Rusty, stuck together for life for sure. Rich greenish and blue patinas. No leaks, no holes just hanging together for dear life. All the gunk and toxins just pass on through.After 50 years for sure, nothing, but death, can unscrew these fittings now.
ReplyDeleteQMM
No doubt. Maybe dynamite, or my personal favorite, sweet talk, would do the trick.
ReplyDeleteI see you watched Love Me If You Dare! Cooooooooooool :-)
HEY! THIS is really GooooD!
ReplyDeleteEven the plumber cannot separate. And if HE cannot, who can??? I think you were already stuck on each other...
An IMAGINATIVE play on words throughout...magical, almost! LOVED IT: "tongues and grooves"...OH My!
And: FLUIDS ..BURST..MUTUAL..DUCT!!!
I'm gettin' OUT of here!--grin!
I might need a cigarette now!
ReplyDeleteVery hot!
Such clever use of language. Such visual imagery. I'm in love.
ReplyDeleteWow...that is some HOT sex you have going there! Keep it up. The relationship will never get rusty, unlike these pipes!
ReplyDeleteWow. If I smoked, I think I would have had a cigarette at the end of this particular piece. Very well written, erotic and tasteful.
ReplyDeleteThe plumbing section of hardware stores will never be innocent in my eyes again.
blowtorch comes to mind...they can be very sexy too.
ReplyDeleteAmazing what can result from some rusty old pipes, Willow! Very good!
ReplyDeleteWOW, love it.
ReplyDeleteAt a risk of sounding cliche...that was awesome! Such symbolism...only you could turn this image into passion!
ReplyDeleteAh, to have a relationship like that!
ReplyDeletewhew--hot,hot,hot---as a number of your readers have mentioned, I will never look a pipes in the same way! c
ReplyDeleteOoo... I like sexy. i liked the ambiguity, very nicely done.
ReplyDeleteI know that some of these are plumbing terms..you sure made them sexy!! Terrific!
ReplyDeleteThat is so different and clever
ReplyDeleteYou've got talent..yvonne
Amazing! Beautiful metaphors, how clever.
ReplyDeleteWillow you have such a wonderful talent....I always enjoy the poetry that you write. It is no wonder you have such an army of followers! :-)
ReplyDeleteDear Willow: I will never look at pipes the same way again, thank-you. Plumbing sounds so sexy now. No wonder the plumbers pants are always half way up their "adaptor"s tailpipe. It all makes perfect sense. The analogous is so much fun! Love this "semi sort of soft erotica" "flanges fuse" or "bow hot adaptor bow" especially those "melding raw tongues and grooves".Yep still got it; sexy poetry. Mmmmhmmm.
ReplyDeleteMy stock joke is that, back in the day, I was a plumber's helper. I cannot tell you how much I love your sexy romp through the "tools of the trade," so to speak. My favorite bit: "rusted in a time-locked core, patina of trusted copper oxide." You made my wife blush, btw, which IS saying something ;-)
ReplyDeleteUnexpected, crazy sexy and delightful. 'Nuff said.
ReplyDeleteA mutual aqueduct.
ReplyDeleteCome on Willow, that is BRILLIANT!
I love this piece.
Thank you so much for sharing.
Love this and I'm really not crazy about poetry, who'd have thought plumbing could be so erotic.
ReplyDeleteSurprisingly sensuous!
ReplyDeleteWow Willow, I so enjoyed this. Just wonderful!
ReplyDeleteVery clever Willow!
ReplyDeleteSexiest poem about plumbing I've ever read!
ReplyDeleteWhat a comparison! Very strange and sensual at the same time. How great!
ReplyDeleteDear Willow,
ReplyDeleteI never thought the rustry pipe could be so deliciously delightful. Pulsing with life!
This week I decided to take a break and absorb all the lovely takes on your prompt.
Who would have thought rusty pipes could be so erotic? You are magic with your words.
ReplyDeleteHi! Willow,
ReplyDeleteThis poem is infused with visual imagery. I can just imagine the difficulty a plumber will have disengaging the two...coupling.
Thanks, for sharing, both the poem and the netflix suggestion.
DeeDee ;-D
Lovely, lovely..!
ReplyDeleteFinding so much love and beauty in the pipes - your creativity and vision delight me and inspire me to see the world with new eyes!
thank you!
Maybe that's why I have not been too successful at coupling. I should look for a plumber!
ReplyDeleteI notice that you have a liking and a skill for tasteful sensuality.
ReplyDeleteI could say something really clever...or just leave it up to you.
Willow, you need to sell this one to the HALLMARK company for the big anniversaries!!! The three last lines---perfection!
ReplyDeleteYou are the master of your own game! Wonderfully sensual...
ReplyDeletethat is a steamy magpie...i will never look at a rusted pipe the same way again....Great Magpie...bkm
ReplyDeleteThis is absolute brilliance!!
ReplyDeleteThe poem, the imagery, the words, and interpretation. True brilliance!
Loved it :-)
ReplyDeletemost excellent willow...ah the beauty of risting together into a solid piece...smiles. nice mag!
ReplyDeletewow, that's hot
ReplyDeletethis is so brilliant.
ReplyDeleteso many ways to keep going with cheeky metaphors.
I will refrain.
I meant cheesy. Although I guess cheeky is a fit too:)
ReplyDeleteWhew! That was...steamy ;)
ReplyDeleteGreat stuff!
I never realized plumbing could be somewhat erotic.
ReplyDeleteohh, that was worth another read, perhaps another again! I like your take on the familiar fittings.
ReplyDeleteWhew!
That is almost dirty but good real good.
ReplyDeleteWowww... this had some raw beauty to it!
ReplyDeleteIt was fantastic!!!
"It would take more than a plumber’s sawto disengage us now." -- WOW!
A fab Magpie, Willow...
Kudos..
I missed this one Willow; I was celebrating 23 years of marriage with my hubby in London (thanks your well-wishes!) ~ couldn't help but think of our own relationship while reading this one. To me there's nothing sexier than a relationship with a little patina!!! ;-)
ReplyDeleteLiving in Germany, I wholeheartedly agree. Celebrating #33 this week at WM!
ReplyDeleteOh the fittings and workings and patinas of us humans. It's fun, and beautiful.
ReplyDeleteThanks, bloggies, for all your wonderful, generous comments. It's always such a pleasure to share my poetry with you. You're the best. xx
ReplyDeleteFantastic! "it would take more than a plumbers saw to disengage us now" - very earthy!
ReplyDeleteAh, the wisdom in your witty words! A week of anniversaries, it seems, as we celebrated our 24th.
ReplyDeleteVery nice, especially the flow of it and the ending again, short, sharp, definitive.
ReplyDelete