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.
.

helmut berger as konrad in visconti's 'conversation piece'

released

your bondage at last, is broken

free of weakness

free of shame

unleashed

incorruptible

amoral

you breathe

you rise again

beyond

your body

uncoiled

like smoke

exhaled

untightened

undone

each move

in the darkness

flickers with light

each shudder of flesh

communes with the night

unfrightened

unsung

and unsoiled

understand

there is peace

in understanding

he is gone

believe

in his pale, wrecked face

but you

an old man

must live

and in his bloodless pain, his lifeless hands

discover

what ... grace

and know

in an unshattered morning

there is nothing he can forgive.

Helmut Berger is mentioned in another blog of mine, Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered.

To check out my reviews on Amazon, follow this link.

i’m on fire – shakey graves

i'm on fire - shakey graves

stripped down to this …

creepy lo-fi intensity

a dirty phonecall

to the babysitter

in a horror sequel

not a promise, more a threat

from springsteen’s strong arms

to shakey’s sweaty palms

all wet

something far less straight-

forward

than love or lust

more crooked,

moves back-

ward

off the beaten track

crab-scuttles sideways

a cockroach down a crack

his insistence sinister

background vocals

doppelganger,

whisper

and insinuate

bruce’s pure passion perverted

dragged off the main drag

this sidles down a seedy sidestreet

shadowy, illicit

before you know it

it’s too late

Check out my other Shakey blog Are You Trick or Are You Treat?