The Cottage

The Cottage

Entombed,

the courtyard prison

surrounds us.

David and Victor the guards;

Our quarry of rocks,

the burden of hard labour,

a garden that mocks

a cutting edge,

defies tranquillity.

No life beyond

those high walls,

other than fellow prisoners

whom we never see,

but hear their lives

in play through open windows.

The cottage itself

A tomb whose soul is dead

and where concern

is a constant companion.

Yet you hold it dear,

would value it

above my love,

beyond my affection,

 my adoration

and my dedication,

until it kills us dead.

28/07/12

Reviews

[Renée]

Your title drew me in, thinking ..I would find one of those charming cottages I adore…but I think this one I would run from ! For what is needed to make a home, seems to be lacking.. Sad tale..that happens to often.. Well Done, Mr. Gabriel..

[John Alexander McFadyen]

Thank you Renee. I was with a woman who had massive debts due to her large mortgage and unemployed status and she refused to sell it and move in with me and when eventually I capitulated, moved in and agreed to sell my house, pay off her mortgage she would not give me any space for my clothes. I had to live out of a bag for six months before I decided to end it.

[Renée]

Uff, we humans do the dirtiest things to each other. I hope, you hold your head high.. you know what love and trust should be… she never will...

[John Alexander McFadyen]

Thank you Renee

[SHEEMA HUQ]

an insight in to the complex tribulations of an aristocrat perhaps.....very interesting

[John Alexander McFadyen]

She was far from aristocratic. Thanks Sheema.

[Andorianskye]

' The cottage itself

A tomb whose soul is dead'

i liked the personification here

[John Alexander McFadyen]

Glad you liked it

[Leigh]

Some houses do have an overpowering character of their own, that seem to have more importance than the people in them and it is very easy to become intoxicated. Being entombed means trapped really and if you are trapped you need to escape, you are probably best off out of that one. Lovely poem, I wonder who David and Victor are? They are either two stones gargoyles that sit in the garden or perhaps two children playing outside?

[John Alexander McFadyen]

Hi Leigh many thanks. I did get out and although sad after two years I am much happier. David and Victor are the gay neighbours.

[Matthew]

mmmmmmm tasty! I've spent a great part of my life in spiritual and physical prisons, and this, my friend, is a beautiful adaptation of that life.

[John Alexander McFadyen]

Thanks Matthew, yes we have prisons all around us and sometimes being trapped in an idea, way of doing things or an unfulfilling relationship is worse than a physical prison. At least you know your release date in a real prison. .

[Matthew]

Amen. But the beautiful thing is that when one is trapped, the only way out is through true inspiration. We will never know freedom if we don't know a prison

[Claire Twinn]

It sounds such a grey and suffocating place, the opposite of what a home should be. I agree with spiritwind it is perhaps more likely she was holding on to the home while everything else crumbled around her.

[John Alexander McFadyen]

But for 24 months !gave all of me and more.

[Frieda P]

This one feels suffocating.

'The cottage itself
A tomb whose soul is dead'

Sounds like being jailed...and 'my dedication, until it kills us dead
'...a love that is all consuming.

[John Alexander McFadyen]

It felt suffocating after two years of trying and giving

[spiritwind]

Maybe it was the only way she felt safe~~ to wrap her life around an object instead of a human~~maybe she thought life would hurt less that way

[John Alexander McFadyen]

You are of course right but after two years I put it down to being selfish and anal.

[spiritwind]

chuckling here... well, yes, that too! being there for two years would give a certain insight anally speaking... sorry for laughin g... even when you scold me, you make me chuckle... I am seldom "right" and sorry if I come off as some sort of know it all... I just always wander off track and pick up stuff and look underneath, sometimes forgetting the author's feelings and it would appear that sometimes men are the victims--what a novel thought--I must give that some serious thought [not being sarcastic here]

[quinfinn]

in the metaphorical, this is genius! honestly, how much thought went into this? reads like a labor of love.....

[John Alexander McFadyen]

Two years of living through it lol! Thanks Quin.

[quinfinn]

that explains a great deal

[Leslie Philibert]

I understand this to be about a prison in a symbolic sense, a good write.

[John Alexander McFadyen]

Thanks Leslie it was a symbolic prison.