The Shebeen
18November 19, 2014 by petrujviljoen
Flowers, not red,
sulking, all over the floor one
came to rest next to a previously peaceful stone,
having been there quite timely and, you know
what?
Excisable beers arranged on the sinking table –
the hopeful radio danced, –
it was a shebeen
– the Irish night was late.
Heads drooping into tired cups, hands folded,
still around holding on.
How could you stare so? It’s not on.
Linked to Dverse
Love all the images here, but never heard about the holiday…flowers, and radio, cups and heads- really come alive! Excellent! ~ thanks for visiting /commenting at my place. :)x
A shebeen is not a holiday, it’s a drinking joint, often unlicensed. Loved this exercise.
Sounds like a fun night. I like your description of waiting for the radio. Nice.
Thanks Myrna.
Thanks to your poem, I have learned a new word and the difference between its meaning in South Africa and elsewhere. I too like the image of ‘Heads drooping into tired cups’ – so very apt!
Thanks. I enjoyed this one.
I had not heard of this kind of event, or if I had, while perhaps in my cups myself, I never saw it spelled out. You rocked the prompt for me, for sure; much more than I did. I, for one, felt the prompt was certainly challenging enough for a Poetics; now MTB & FFA really get into many classic ironclad parameters, stretching our knowledge but straitjacketing our expressions. Enjoyed this a lot, thanks.
Thank you. High praise indeed.
oy… the sinking table def. made me think of having had too many beers already… ha.. what a night…eh
So glad it’s all over. Don’t have to do that anymore.
Yeah! A radio can be hopeful and dance. I like the image.
Thanks Adriana!
The heads dropping into tired cups.. that’s an image that I really love.
Thanks. It’s a real memory. Been there, done that, got the t-shirt .
Ah, you too couldn’t resist the lure of using more than one pair of inanimate object/emotional adjective! I think next time I should make the prompt more difficult – clearly, many of you enjoy an extra challenge! I agree with you that flowers can sulk quite effectively – and radio is nearly always hopeful…
I’ve actually switched off my radio and TV – can’t stand the terrible news and each bulletin has more of it! But sometimes the music is hopeful. Loved the challenge. Thanks for the theme. More please.
You did a great job of including several of the pairings. I liked the heads drooping into tired cups. Kind of a turn about.
Thank you! I was surprised to find ‘shebeen’ being of Irish origin, thought it was a uniquely South African phenomenon. Visited a few in years gone by.