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

Saturday 22 November 2014

Hook and I

19:05:00 Posted by Steve Rowland , , , , , No comments
Hook. Hmmm - it's got to be JM Barrie, Peter Pan and all that Neverland shenanigans. I was always fascinated by the implications of having George Darling [father of Wendy, John and Michael] and Captain Hook played by the same actor, a suggestion first made to Barrie by Gerald du Maurier, who took both roles in the original 1904 production and one that has subsequently become a tradition.

I don't know how many theatregoers [children or adult] down the years have even been aware of this dualism, but as a device it's loaded with psychological resonance, a way of representing aspects of the complex dynamics at the heart of parent-child relationships: love, discipline, respect, freedom of expression, degrees of dependence or independence, trust, anger, wilfulness, frustration, caring and on and on. 

Today's poem attempts a singular take on the theme, a father's-eye view of the drama. The picture is just a visual pun...



Hook and I
Hook and I,
twin aspects woven
from a common thread:
a face of love
a face of dread.
 
In the tapestry of dreams,
spun boundless from
your softly sleeping head,
fierce battles are engaged.
 
By force of will
you foil the dark oppressor
with his claw of steel
and fly triumphant
to your lair…
 
while in the mundane world
you lie defenceless,
toss and turn as I,
with caring hand,
smoothe down your counterpane
and stroke your tousled hair.

Thanks for reading and have a good week, S :-)
 

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