Tuesday 15 May 2012

Gob-Stopper

This came out of nowhere this morning.

Gob-Stopper

The thought of leaving here,
Leaving you,
Leaving this life,
Rolls around my head.

Like a brand-new gob-stopper.
It holds the promise of long sweetness.
It has not yet lost its bright colour.
But it’s still too big to swallow.

Maybe I’ll just suck on it for a while.
Feel it click against my teeth,
And when it’s small enough.
It’ll go down easy.

Not sure what our American friends call gob-stoppers.  They're a big ball of hard candy you suck on, they change colour as you suck.  They have a kind of aniseed-y flavour, usually.

8 comments:

  1. I don't know if we even have those - but it sort of sounds like a jawbreaker. Love the poem & the image it invokes. Most of all I love a post by YOU!

    P.S. Did you hear that I've commanded that you & DFTP record your version of Hallelujah? Get right on that, ya hear?

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  2. Hi Bug! Thanks for sticking with me!

    I think jawbreakers sounds about right!

    Hallelujah is a tricky song to sing, but I have worked out a version for the ukulele (of all things), which might be worth a go.

    Will speak to DFTP about it.

    Thanks for reading!

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  3. We know of gobstoppers because of Willie Wonka. :-)

    I liked this, in a strange sort of way, as I have just recently left my husband. It rings strange bells for me, having been thinking of leaving for almost four years...

    Pearl

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  4. There's a parallel somewhere here "don't choke on it" maybe? I like this poem.

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  5. A potent simile for a familiar feeling.

    When I was preparing for my ham radio exams someone bought me a huge gobstopper - the implication being I was going on and on about what I was studying. I was amused by the gesture and kept it on the mantlepiece for long enough as a reminder not to sound off.

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  6. Wow, Pearl! Four years! That's a long time to be considering something like that - still nobody can ever say you did it on impulse.

    ER - haha, never thought of that! Maybe a sequel?

    Dominic - I like your friend's 'subtle' hint! We could probably all use a hint like that now and again - I know I could.

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  7. i was always terrible with those kind of sweets - would always end up chewing them. Good poem

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  8. Just backtracked a little way, Silver, and found your clever poem. Really do like it - a gem. Sometimes one stumbles on such treasures and it makes Blogger that much more worthwhile. Read one of Dana's (Bug), and Tess K's on Infinity - both quite excellent.
    Now fast-forwarding to read your programming bugbear ...
    Phil

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