Tuesday 12 February 2013

Smoke Rings

Artwork by Joseph Lorusso

Smoke rings
- Gauloises Disque Bleu –
sophisticate the bright young things
as they dream to change the world
amidst the ambience of distant chatter,
joyous yeses,
cries of ‘Strike!’
as pins topple fall and scatter.

Behind the counter,
amidst the clatter of the dishes,
hiss of steam and till kerching -
she wishes so
she were that girl, 
so wants the the thrill 
of love and kisses,
the exuberance
of her life of yesteryear.

Home now, amidst the tears,
the fears of tomorrow 
and the forever broken heart,
she cries the names 
of long lost lovers,
sups from the bottle,
drowns her sorrows
as she blows sad smoke rings 
in the dark.

Anna :o]

The above is a response to Tess’s prompt at The Mag – thanks Tess.

The pic reminded me of my past life when many of my teenage years were spent socialising at the nearby bowling alley.

I think I only ever played bowls about five times for to me and many other young things it was a meeting point for friends - where often love blossomed and sometimes died…

There was a café at the front framed by large glass windows – upstairs there was a members only bar – never made it that far as underage – but we all yearned to be there.

One of the waitresses at the café was a sour old woman – she,  probably only forty or so – but to us then that was oh so old – and we used to make up stories about her, imagine why she was so miserable – that is, when we weren’t saving the world!

Also entered at dVerse Open Link Night - hosted by Tony - thanks Tony.

35 comments:

Jenny Woolf said...

And yet when we were that age we thought we were so sophisticated, not so innocent :)

Berowne said...

"Am I blue, am I blue? Ain't these tears in these eyes tellin' you..?"

kelvin s.m. said...

..and it went so fast... like the short airing of the smoke rings... very good poem and reminiscence that fits so well with the prompt.. smiles...

ADDY said...

My God, I remember smoking Gauloises in my ignorant youth and thinking we were so chic!

Ann Grenier said...

I love this Anna. I appreciate your explanation but it simply confirmed the very clear story you expressed poetically in Smoke Rings. Enjoyed your end and interior rhymes. Excellent.

Amrit Sinha said...

Wow Anna ... this is just so beautiful !!!

Helen said...

I enjoyed this immensely ... may we all have the sorts of memories you describe so beautifully.

Helen said...

... I should have added, even the difficult memories have value.

Little Nell said...

I liked this poem in the voice of the waitress; a life of regrets would be enough to make he sour.

The Write Girl said...

I just love the imagery of "smoke rings." You weave a tale of lost love so perfectly. Great writing here!

Wayne said...

indeeed nice imagery.....nicely done and thanks for sharing

Frances Garrood said...

Beautiful, as always.

Sabio Lantz said...

"Bowling Ally" ? !
It was fun imagining you blowing those smokerings.
Our previous lives are some of the greatest movie scenes playing over and over again in our heads, eh?
Nicely done

Brian Miller said...

smoke rings in the dark...just something about them...smiles...actually the detail you use is my fav....bringing the scene to life...like the clattering of dishes and hiss of steam

Laurie Kolp said...

Aww... this is so sad. I hope she didn't really feel like that. Love your use of sophisticate here, Anna.

Mary said...

Enjoyed the story you told. Somehow I think we all probably thought adults were miserable in those years. Now that WE are the adults we (hopefully) know differently!!

Scarlet said...

I enjoyed the look back on the young things dreaming to change the world ~

Nice retelling Anna ~

Friko said...

at least there were long-lost lovers (plural); at least she knew the joys of heartbreak.

Susan Anderson said...

This rings true.

=)

Kathe W. said...

excellent glimpse into one womans life

Charles Elliott/Beautyseer said...

Is youth still being wasted on the young?!? Guess we didn't even manage to change THAT! Thanks for this. Such lovely regret!

Jinksy said...

" The ones who got away?" I guess we all have a few of those. :)

Other Mary said...

Oh, you break my heart so beautifully... love this Anna!

Claudia said...

nice...the Gauloises Disque Bleu ground this beautifully...and a well painted scene...

Anonymous said...

oh, that tun and war between wanting that kiss and knowing what will happen when you get it from the wrong person

hyperCRYPTICal said...

Thanks for your welcome comments folks.

Ah yes JENNY - we did think we were so sophisticated and ADDY - smoking Gauloises was pure proof of it. (Yuk - they were so unbelievably strong - but so cool!)

SABIO tis true that such memories are replayed repeatedly - sparse as they are, for we forget so much.

I did have an odd view of adults MARY - it is a truth that I wanted to die before I hit thirty as I regarded this age as ancient. (Glad I didn't!)

Is youth wasted on the young CHARLES - possibly - but there again - we need to spread our wings and break free from the confines of our childhood - and what better time when we are physically fit and (for the most part) open-minded.

There are a few things I would wish to change in my life - but if I did I would change my history and therefore my future - and I am content with my life now.

If I had the power to change things retrospectively - would I be the me I am today?

Anna :o]

lucychili said...

maybe she just needs a hug. =)

Andy Sewina said...

Lovely work, this reads so well!

Jyoti Mishra said...

Loved how you captured those lil details of surroundings..

sophisticate the bright young things
as they dream to change the world.... this line made me think a lot..
Lovely writing :)

ND Mitchell said...

The past brought to life so vividly. Nicely crafted :-)

Dave King said...

I guess we all have memories that make us say "My God!" when we re-encounter them. I find your matter-of-fact approach to them impressive.

Susan Bellfield said...

You've captured a very real emotional soup of regret, jealousy, and desire. Lovely.

Margaret said...

Really, a piece packed with memories we can all remember a bit... yes, I remember when I thought 40 was old...

~T~ said...

Good depiction of a memory--from the other side!

Heidi said...

How cool that we get to meet this lady that you used to imagine about. The line "she sups from a bottle" made me so sad for her. I liked the story here.