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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