POETS UNITED - BOREDOM

“Time is too slow for those who wait, too swift for those who fear, too long for those who grieve, too short for those who rejoice, but for those who love, time is eternity.” - Henry Van Dyke

This week PoetsUnited is looking at “Boredom” for its midweek poetry motif. My grandfather used to say that “only boring people get bored”, and I could see his point, considering when and how he lived: Time was precious, work tasks never-ending and leisure a rare thing, with the time devoted to it short and sweet – how so to be bored? I must say that I too, have never felt bored in my life. My interests too many, my activities multitudinous and varied, my work relentless and my own leisure time carefully spent, savoured like the last single lemon candy one sucks slowly to make it last.

I read Bukowski’s poems on the Poets United site this week a couple of times. They annoyed me. He may be well regarded, he may be famous, called a master wordsmith, a brilliant writer, but his voice fails to speak to me. I read the introduction again and the theme this week seemed to hint more at writer’s block than boredom. “Boredom” as a theme flummoxed me…

I had to go back in time, think of the idle rich and come up with this, my contribution:

Ennui

Madame looks at the ormolu clock,

It ticks, it’s working, yet time seems to stand still…

She feels the texture of the Sèvres fine bone china

And sips the fine, hot, blond Oolong tea –

“Je m’ennuie tellement,

que je voudrais mourir maintenant…” She thinks

She feels the fine silk of Shanghai

As it caresses her softest skin,

She touches her carefully coiffed hair, all in order,

And her silver gilt mirror reflects her beautiful face –

“Je m’ennuie, ça me tue”, She says,

“Franchement, je ne sais plus quoi faire de ma vie!”

The diamonds of her necklace sparkle,

Madame’s hands are bejewelled too, rings, bracelets…

A golden platter full of friandises, petits fours, sugar almonds,

And the latest novels lying forlorn, discarded on the fauteuil –

“Je m’ennuie comme un rat mort,

l’ennui est tellement ennuyeux…” She concludes.

And later, when her lovely head is so easily sliced off,

By the sharp and heavy blade of the efficient guillotine,

One could quite truthfully say,

Madame had surely died of boredom…