The Examined Life of Dr. X
O, former tennis-player!
Your closet rasps with the bones
of carbon-fibre skeletons
where the leads of divorce-lost dogs
hang – their slack ligaments –
and noose your marriage muscle.
O, maker of uncomfortable party guests!
Your wallet-moths flutter dusty
over my best wine, telling tales
of white whales speared by rival seamen;
of doctorates in all that you once did.
You, sir, need a project.
O, troubled ornithologist!
Your binoculars only magnify
your desperate doe-eyed sight-slit
and your depth perception? – Atrocious!
You break my tables with your cyclopean visage.
Perhaps it’s best if you left.
O, pig-iron sculptor of retrospection!
Your choice in taxi-firm gases my petunias,
and they weep to your hemlock-breath slurred Adieu.
Yet, you are the talk of the floor, absent sleb.
The dregs of your glass; a narcissian pool,
and the carpet-trodden amuse-bouche
bests the bust of Socrates as centrepiece.
Philippe Blenkiron holds an MA in Creative Writing from Keele University. His work has been previously published in Shoestring Magazine and recently saw him shortlisted for the ‘Roy Fisher Prize for Poetry’. He is currently focused on a project concerning a saga of Narrative/Dialogue poems, a selection of which are available at: http://pustoi.wordpress.com/