I have come, come like a sordid image.

[Ol' Man Nettal]

Exhumed by the moon that crafts my posture,
Lead by a hickory cane that takes me
Through the nights that smell of peculiar brothels.
The cream trilby that throws darkness on my eyes
That peer like creatures on your uncertainty.
I take from my careful suit pocket a match
That serves the tip of my cigar.
An eccentric, sauntering about by lamp posts
That droop and bend to hear the musings
That crawl over the brandishing of a cigar as I stroll.
Ol’ Man Nettal, the name that tags my being.
The timbre that comes with smoke,
The mien of detachment,
The theatrical dancer, mingling with the flashing of stars.





O.M.N.

[monty1500]

I really like this line:

An eccentric, sauntering about by lamp posts

[smorzando]

Welcome to the forum -- that is quite a lovely first post. There are some beautiful lines in here... though I think that my favourite part is "the cream trilby... as I stroll".

smorz.

[gurthbruins]

I plug "the name that tags my being". That is pretty authoritative stuff.

I am amused and entertained by the humorous undercurrents I find here.

[bastet]

lol! have to agree with all the above ;)
..welcome to the forum :)

[BenJohnson]

Indeed welcome, your hickory cane lead you true, there's a hook by the door if you want to hang your trilby up.

[Maryd.]

Great first poem... Welcome

[Adam]

wow! great images e.g

'... lamp posts
That droop and bend to hear the musings'

and impressive vocabulary. welcome!

[hiderinthebutterbox]

Loved the first threelines especially
drew me in and I really wanted it not to end

Lovely

and welcome :)


xxxx
peace

[gurthbruins]

I haven't read O.M.N.'s other post yet, but it seems to me everybody is being rather obtuse here.
Not seeing "smell of peculiar brothels", "sordid", and the many Freudian allusions at all. Bear in mind that "Trilby" (1894) is a gothic horror novel.

[Ol' Man Nettal]

Thanks. I composed it for this very site, but I think it captures
my inscrutable, eccentric alter ego fairly well.
at the moment I'm composing what is going to be my most capricious and strange play. I might post it here temporarily when it comes into fruition.

gurthbruins, I don't completely understand what you mean, could you re-post and expand on the opinion expressed above.
Interesting you should note a reference to Freud, as, if there is one, it must have
crept in completely unconsciously on my part. I find it interesting because psychology
is among some of the subjects I study at home, and Freud and Jung have been the
predominant teachers through their fascinating books.
Perhaps I plucked from my unconscious that which seemed most appealing to me,
something dark and forbidding. Luckily, I have chosen poems as my form of sublimation.
Perhaps otherwise my mind would lead me to darker, more plutonian things.... Muahaha

[gurthbruins]

Hi O.M.N.!
Glad to hear you read Freud and Jung; so do I!
Let me then play devil's advocate and see how freudianly a Freudian might interpret these symbols:
1. "I have come, come like a sordid..." - twice?
2. "hickory":> hickory, dickory, dock, containing the word "dick".
3. Cane, cigar, lamp posts: obvious sexual symbols. (You probably read "The Interpretation of Dreams".)
4. "droop and bend."
5. "flashing": note dual meaning.

It might be interesting to ponder how much unconscious effect this poem might be having on readers. But on the conscious level, very entertaining.
Look forward to seeing more of your work.