TheTimesWrapUP

Posted on by claudia

i wear mostly bLacK–
priNt on a neutral soul
(if there‘s something

like that– yeah,
i doubt as well), in wartimes,
sold, for 3 pennies each,
a freedom headline, torn
on windy corners
from a capped boy’s hand &
dead by day’s end,

fading checkless yellOwing,
obituaries, dripPing restTears
water-wave the page, sun
in my face

i end up on her desk,
tightly wrapped around
an apple & a tuna sandwich
while she types

columns in ExCel
that spread from London
to the Chinese wall, outDated
with the last line,

curd soap scent creeps
from her arms along the window
sill, a sparrow (she’s got freckles,
and the palest skin) sits in the
church yard opposite
the bridge,

i wait,

 ——& listen

(hrtHshlClacKClack–)

until lunchbreak

.

we’re writing Media at dVerse today…television, magazines, newspaper, commercials.. join us at 3pm EST when Brian switches on the lights… oh..and you can recognize me by the yellow rose & The Times on the table in front of me…smiles

54 responses to “TheTimesWrapUP”

  2. it is a very cool perspective piece….from a newspaper…how nostalgic as well to think of the paper boys….growing up my dad delivered papers in the early morning…some days i would ride along as he pitched them from the road to land on their doorsteps…i really like the papers zoom in on her in the second half of this…as if it cares for her by its observations…i find that bit very interesting…and the sounds affects as well…sometimes details do matter…smiles.

  4. I’m afraid this is yet another time when my critical sense deserts me and I simply have to soak up and enjoy a brilliantly-composed poem without further comment…

    *shuts up.

    M

  5. … from a capped boy’s hand &dead by day’s end,.. ah, sad poor li’l thing…i must say their life is short yet well lived… liked the portrayal you made here Claudia…very clever how you put yourself on their disposition…smiles…

  7. It gives the thumbs up to newspapers. But one can’t help thinking newspapers will be history shortly just as books. Somehow reading on-line has the effect of something missing from the real thing. Nicely Claudia!

    Hank

  8. Great perspective…glad it didn’t end up at bottom of bird cage…or wrapped around beer battered ‘n chips!

  9. Enjoyed the perspective here – we pay so much attention to what the newspaper says that we don’t hear what it might say if we would listen properly 🙂

  11. This is a new favorites of yours – so clever in the earlier part the dying of the Times through the wartime days – and so very descriptive and wonderful as sandwich wrapping – your line and description breaks especially re curd scented arms and sparrow are great. Wonderful.

    p.s. what is black and white and re(a)d all over?

    k.

  12. The paper getting tossed around where the headlines are found, even though many today are crap on display, still like it if they were 3 cents still haha

  14. ooh i LOVE this, truly a brilliant write, Claudia.

    i wear mostly bLacK–
    priNt on a neutral soul

    if only the medium itself could be allowed to have a say more often…. the world might actually have a chance to become more peaceful, balanced

  15. My secret admirer … I wear solid colours only … at work and at play … but I love blue and white stripes … so that’s what I wore the other night at work … one of the security guys phoned up and commented on it … come on, Mr. Come-on … the train stops here … but still … internal smiles 🙂

  20. Claudia, this went straight to my nostalgic heart.. many times I watched my grandmother wrap my grandfather’s sandwich and lunch in newspaper and plastic wrap for his brown bag lunch as he drank his coffee and headed out the door with the morning newspaper under his arm on the way to work; he also typed many a humorous message that appeared in a popular column in the city’s local paper read by thousands every day; plus, he wore that newsboy hat when a boy and delivered papers when they were 5 cents probably in 1905…and who does not still keep old obits clipped from them: 😉 ..and news already old by day’s end…sweet…

  21. nice pov piece. I like dead by day’s end, so true, the paper here, if you don’t read it early enough, finds itself in the recycling bin by dinner time. Really nicely done Claudia

  22. Very creative perspective, from the newspaper who lords it mighty in the past years ~ Specially like the opening lines, until it is wrapped in a sandwich ~

  23. Wow, we have all lived long enough to witness the demise of print on paper, as the newspaper industry, and soon many magazines, which favor images over journalistic content, will follow suit. The internet, linked to our notebooks, phones, lap tops, and P/Cs has usurped centuries of love affairs with the printed word on paper; the London Times, the NY Times, all of them struggle. Soon we will have to wrap our fish and chips in plastic products, since the newspapers will not soon be available. Great piece, Claudia; terrific nostalgia and POV.

  24. When you made mention of the bird I thought the bottom of the cage was exactly where we were headed! Love how all the senses engage, and carry us from our beginnings…it’s been ages since a newspaper has slid across my table…quite nostalgic indeed

  27. Amazing… this could be a poem in and of itself.

    i end up on her desk,
    tightly wrapped around
    an apple & a tuna sandwich
    while she types

    columns in ExCel
    that spread from London
    to the Chinese wall

  28. I still find it amazing how you draw us into the moment, Claudia… and one is hungry when one wraps oneself around the sandwich…smiles..the hands becomethe typewriter keys striking the food against red ribbon lips

  30. I love this:

    “water-wave the page, sun
    in my face

    i end up on her desk,
    tightly wrapped around”

    … and your last full stanza.

  33. This is nostalgic without being morose. I love how it’s kind of rapid-fire, impressionist, yet not vague at all. “dead by day’s end” is a great, great line. Delightful!

  40. Is there a furtive message in your seemingly random capitalisation? Do they spell something? Anagram? Acronym? I’m intrigued by your use of cApS — they seem to be taking a life of their own.. 🙂

  41. It’s so weird. I was deleting emails when I ran across your post. I knew I had read it, but then I didn’t remember leaving a comment. Now I reread your poem and checked the comments and I wasn’t there. How did I not leave a comment? Hope that hasn’t happened before. I always read your imaginative poetry. I love it. Needless to say, I enjoyed reading this one and liked it even more upon the second reading. Hope you always write, even after newpapers stop printing.

  45. this is excellent, just excellent, im blown away, start to finish this flowed so smooth. i too wonder about the mystery of the capital letters

    i would quote something, but it all fits together so well, i don’t want to break it. great stuff claudia, really liked this

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  54. “i wear mostly bLacK–
    priNt on a neutral soul
    (if there‘s something

    like that– yeah,
    i doubt as well), in wartimes,
    sold, for 3 pennies each,
    a freedom headline, torn
    on windy corners
    from a capped boy’s hand &
    dead by day’s end…”

    Hi! Claudia…
    What a very descriptive poem and you have captured the essence Of a newspaper…very well… in your poem.

    “TheTimesWrapUP”
    Thanks,
    deedee