The Mundane
For sarahpotter
Late at night, the roads
in the Brave Little Knight’s room
are far from safe.
Paved with the broken bones of old toys
and potholes the size of mounds of clothes,
the streets bespeak a ghost town
where the townspeople
don’t drink the water for fear of disease
and would rather eat mousetrap bait
than take a chance on the pavement.
The are some evenings when
dust bunnies roll by
on the empty sidewalks,
but even they do not stay for long;
for the room was claimed by the Gods of Dirt,
and our sire’s bedchamber is decorated
with the casualties of a battle
waged since before the squire’s birth:
An unpaired sock breathed his last
ages ago on the mantelpiece,
yet his body remains as a haunting reminder
of a more sanitary time.
There sits an unwanted Christmas gift-
contortionist in the corner of the room-
and a lonely page of a book-never-opened
looms under a mirror.
Little do they know,
the beasts below,
the demons that feast on debris and grow,
those evil imps of entropy unknown will be
beaten clean by the hygienic hero.
Twice a year or so, the knight awakens in his
sleeping quarters to find a room
run by the untidy mafia
and hardly a square inch of floor space
to place his feet upon.
Like always, the errant-child is surprised
to discover that a crime was committed
right under his nose,
and though he should have smelled
that something was off,
the brave boy didn’t even notice.
Without hesitation,
he takes up his weapon of war:
A trusty vacuum cleaner steed
complete with swiffer attachment.
With the power of Mr. Clean,
Scrubbing bubbles and Bounty combined,
the brave vanquisher of mayhem
sends messmakers running behind piles of laundry.
The disorder demons won’t
accept defeat easily though,
and even when the Quixote dispatches
his four horsemen of sanitation
into the trenches of clothes,
he comes up empty handed.
This game of smoke and mirrors
between chaos and order
is hardly close to checkmate;
although the fate of all life
is eventual disarray,
at least the brave knight
has kept his bedlam at bay.
At least until next spring.
Edit: Welcome all you knew folks, so glad you made it! And you came all the way for poetry, braving lag and poor uploading rates; I really appreciate it.
Feel free to wander around, hijack my comments section, or make me feel awesome by thumbs-upping (new word?) anything you fancy!
For more Brave Little Knight, you can click:
here (Part I)
Or here (Part II)
Or here (Part III)
Or even here (Part IV)
For everything else, you can use the navigation/compass/astrolabe/magic stuff yonder————->;;
Please enjoy, and don’t hesitate to leave your fingerprint in this little realm of cyberspace.
Simultaneously harrowing, witty and ironic. Really enjoyed this one!
Hannah,
Fancy meeting you here. And you have great taste in the bloggers you follow.
Le Clown
Tough if I want to keep you both as friends, I suspect I may have to drop the “f-bomb” more often. Too bad my students stalk me, or else it would be sailer talk all over the place.
Anansi,
Have you read my post on the F bomb? You’re safe with me. And Anansi, I’ve been meaning to ask you… Would you like hosting one of my Sunday Haiku editions say around, end of November?
Le Clown
Can you imagine?
Syllables flying like knives
I’ll bring the chain mail.
Anansi,
November 24 it is.
Le Clown
Stalker.
Hannah,
King of the Blogosphere is more like it.
Le Clown
Too few people use the word ‘disarray’ in their poetry, and so I thoroughly enjoyed the fantastic use of it in this
Many congratulations on being Freshly Pressed!
Many thanks, Ms. insanity Aquarium. It’s not often that you see those two words paired (read: never); I’ll have to see why the fish house has been committed.
I LOVE this and should send it to my brave little knight who for the first time has vanquished the beast of disorganization and sent it packing! For that he is is proud. (For at least another month….)
Congratulations on being Freshly Pressed!
Thanks Susie. I didn’t vanquish that dragon until I was well into college. Your boy has definitely one-upped me already. Maybe he can serve as inspiration for the next story!
Hahaha! My little knight is a senior in college! …still laughing…..
This is truly adorable. Some good illustrator should draw up something fitting for it – when is the book coming out? ; )
Thanks, abrasive embrace! I’d like to keep my stuff pretty free, but if you know any artists who can sketch better than my napkin doodlings, send them over!
I mean, there’s Chaucer….then there’s The Brave Little Knight’s Final Appearance….it’s a close race! Loved this one!
Perhaps if Chaucer finished his Tales, this character may have been born early
Loved it! Reminds me a little bit of some of my son’s writings. http://rsjacobsuniverse.wordpress.com/2011/09/16/wielding-the-wand/
I love that you wrote about a common thing in a heroic way. It was uplifting to read a poem that wasn’t bogged down in emotion and depression, contained a plenitude of witticisms, and told a simple story. These are attributes I seek to attain in my own writing. Keep it up! (And if you aren’t too busy with your new-found fame, swing by my page.)
Word. Will do, Smiles. You have sarahpotterwrites.com to thank for the mundane idea though. She’s quite brilliant.
She is and, apparently, so are you! NIce work!
Haha thank you very much indeed.
Indeed smiles, ill make it over tonight. You’d better be scared; your comments section might just get hijacked.
Interesting, made me miss my brothers.
A new age charge of the Light Brigade.. I must say!: ) wonderful!
That’s high praise to be compared with Tennyson. Many thanks, motion picture. When I have a second I’m going to have to see what you’re filming.
Ha! Love it.. Love the humor
Thanks Gloria. I love your “the poet” monicker, as well as your gravitas and riddles.
Reblogged this on celestialski.
… dust bunnies rolling by on the empty sidewalks… I’ll never see either the same again!
Word. I’ll never see a Pow Wow the same way again bud. Thanks!
Lovely poem & great use of language like “Paved with the broken bones of old toys
and potholes the size of mounds of clothes”
nice sharing. thanks
Reblogged this on Jay .
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