written and posted by members of Lancashire Dead Good Poets' Society

Friday 7 March 2014

Unusual Behavour?

Ok, the Mad Hatter is a little strange to say the least, but let's face it, we all have our moments ......

This week (and next) is all about appointments for me.  So many in fact, that I feel like I'm losing my mind trying to remember where on earth I'm supposed to be and when.  I've written them all down on my trusty calendar, made additional reminders on my phone, yet I still managed to forget one of them!  My brain appears to have gone on strike for the last month to six weeks, and I'm struggling to keep it under check. It also is making things hard when it comes to writing. For the most part, it has been like trying to work without any tools whatsoever, then teasingly offering a little nugget to keep me happy once in a blue moon.

Also, strangely (or perhaps not), I've been listening to the Queen track "I'm going slightly mad".  Hmmmmm.

But I digress, back to the theme for this week. I have managed to get something down on paper, but it needs work, a lot of work. Being ever critical, it just doesn't seem to flow for me.  Let me know what you think:


An Insane Fashion Item:

The Mercury is rising
Tainting blood and twisting grey
Poisonous thoughts meld
Amid a jumble of incoherence.
Snug band crowning insanity
Cocked and looking rather fine
I doff mine own to the Gent who can carry it off
No mean feat at that cost.

So why is a Raven like a writing desk?



Thanks for reading, let me know your thoughts in the comments box below.  ;-)

2 comments:

Damp incendiary device said...

I do love a poem I can read three times and which deepens each time. I love the double meanings in this one. Very apt. Lewis Carroll would be jealous.

As for the appointments. Ditto. I think robot butler's are the only way.

Louise Barklam said...

It has been brought to my attention that this particular piece confused a few people at the Open Mic night, so I'll explain:

With the theme being the Mad Hatter and all things Hat Associated, I did a little research and found that Mercury was used in the process of making hats. Frequent contact with it caused Mercury poisoning, which often caused the sufferer to display symptoms similar to being insane. It is where we get the term "Mad as a Hatter" from.

Linking this fact with the Mad Hatter from Alice in Wonderland we get ....

The Mercury is rising (levels of it in the blood stream)
Tainting blood and twisting grey (grey matter = the Brain)
Poisonous thoughts meld
amid a jumble of incoherence
Snug band crowning insanity (the hat on the head)
Cocked and looking rather fine
I doff mine own to the Gent who can carry it off (respect to the Mad Hatter)
No mean feat at that cost (Reference to the price tag on his hat and the price paid for his insanity)

So what do a Raven and a writing desk have in common? (A question that the Mad Matter asks Alice at the tea party to which even he doesn'tknow the answer).

I hope that helps to decipher it a little.