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Aug 09, 2022
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The Salesman.
One day at a house not far from here,
I met a man selling dark voices,
Not smitten with this patter noise,
I thought, no matter, you have a choice,
As all things in the business of being do,
If not, then what business are you here to do?
Return young Murrah’s Stephen, John, and Phil
Find in the long past, the business, that you,
Were to do, and willed,
All of those places, some pleasant, some not
Found all you poor souls, and sensed a new agent,
Sensed a new rot
Where did you all go in such haste?
Don’t fester, festina lente!
Find me here in the divine waste,
Or in in mountains, coldly free,
Waiting, patiently to see.
About This Poem
Last Few Words: Murrah (like Muckah) is a Romany. Gypsie word, which in Newark meant "Man" "Bloke" or "Donkey" take your pick. The salesmen, well, they were everywhere, and not necessarily Romany. Thanks for taking a look.
Style/Type: Free verse
Review Request Intensity: I want the raw truth, feel free to knock me on my back
Editing Stage: Editing - draft
Comments
Obadiah Grey
2 years 10 months ago
Well, I'll plump for "Bloke"
Well, I'll plump for "Bloke" and "Muckha",
though, I have (as do most folk) a soft spot for "Donkeys".
I love the notion of dark voices in a divine waste!
and the finality of the mountains, coldly free.
My interpretation is this,
some *ahem* Geezer floging Jesus to the undecided/gullible.
Or, the dispersion of the romany way.
loved this.
Obi.
Geezer
2 years 10 months ago
Hey watch out...
with that flogging Jesus stuff! I ain't never flogged anyone yet! I've sliced a few up and served them FOR dinner, but
flogging? LoL I think you mean to praise Jesus? I'm neither a flogger nor a praiser. I am ambivalent about religion. Only practicing the usual superstitions, gained from my family background; like don't walk under ladders, seven years bad luck for breaking a mirror, etc. I loved this too, by the way. Interesting thought, selling dark voices. I don't know as I would change a thing. ~ Geez.
.
Obadiah Grey
2 years 10 months ago
Hiya, Geez.
Hiya, Geez.
Here is an interesting root to your moniker.
"The origin of geezer is an interesting one. It appears to derive from the now obsolete term guiser, meaning someone who walks around in disguise, a performer in a masquerade. So a word that was used in the Middle Ages to refer to mummers (actors in traditional plays without words) has now simply come to mean bloke."
What is your take on the word?
Obi.
Geezer
2 years 10 months ago
I am...
Going to reply in the more modern terms of what this word means, and how I come to use the moniker. My name in French
[Guy] is pronounced Gee. I worked with a couple of Frenchmen in my days as an auto-detailer. They referred to me as Gee, after asking if I knew that was the French pronunciation. I assured them I did and that I had some French heritage; whereupon
they also asked if I spoke any French. "No, I took French in the third grade, and right after finding out that I would be called Gee, dropped it!" I was also the oldest one at the shop and someone said that the name should be "Geezer" as I was the oldest one and elder gentlemen were commonly referred to as Old Geezers. When I needed a penname, I decided that
Geezer fit me well and here I am! ~ Geezer.
.
vandiemenspeak
2 years 10 months ago
Hi Obi
Not far off the mark there. Romany slang was a big part of early Gypsie encampments, one of which was in my home town. Obscure references for those outside, I do realise. But I liked the sound. And it's fun to dig into that old ground.
Thanks,
Chris.
Candlewitch
2 years 10 months ago
hello,
I really like how you ended this poem.
*always, Cat
vandiemenspeak
2 years 10 months ago
Thanks Cat!
I started to reply to your other message, but the intermangleweb destroyed my response. Thanks for reading, and I appreciate that you liked the ending.
Take care
Chris.