Wednesday 4 October 2017

peter quinn from tv's 'homeland' (brought to life by rupert friend) (2)


reincarnated as
a hall of mirrors version
of himself
fragmented, contorted
everything a little
awry, askew
… nothing is new ...
leaves the fairground
forever altered

or a cherished
threadbare teddy
pulled apart, dismembered
by the randomly brutal
devotion of an infant
then as roughly mended
stitched together by
an inept seamstress
strapped for time

in some ways less
than what he was
before
in some ways more

now
what was once
an instinct, a reflex
can cause him to pause, to hesitate
adjust, adapt, recalibrate

a clockwork toy
in a perpetual
wind-down

running on empty
driving on fumes
usually head-on
down a dead-end
fuelled by a fervour
that keeps
pitching him forward
regardless

reckless
now he’s died already
courts disaster with disdain
is indifferent to his fate
and an intimate of pain

his default setting
self-destruct
takes the wheel and
takes control ...
for the sake of the girl
for the sake of the mission
one last shot at redemption
one last act of contrition ---


For a textual appreciation of Rupert Friend's portrayal of Peter Quinn, see: peter quinn (rupert friend) in 'homeland' on channel 4. It's a crime Friend wasn't nominated for an Emmy; for another Quinn poem, see vanquished.
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