Monday 12 October 2015

the whiner

she whined like a gramophone –
perpetually winding down,
but never stopping, for long:
complaining and blaming,
pausing only, it seemed,
for nourishment, rest and air,
as, all around her held their
collective breath and sent up
a silent prayer that her days
of wretched luck and spectacularly
unfair treatment had, finally,
given way to the ordinary ebb and flow
of most everybody else’s fortunes and fates …
if only community "willing" could make it so

but no alas, it was not to be and as the years
drifted passed, it became clear to those
whose ears she bent, repeatedly,
with her litany of woe she was doomed,
to be endlessly misunderstood
and victimized all-the-days-of-her-life:
the gossamer threads of words
she wove continually unravelling
– like unfolding tabloid headlines –
to be entwined anew, catching the light
for a moment and then trailing off
to nothingness again and again so that,
she never owned a moment …
she was personally responsible for

photo:  Small Town Newspaper – office of the local newspaper in the charming town on Agassiz, BC – W. Bourke 

© 2015 Wendy Bourke

5 comments:

  1. If only she could move on her existence would not have been this pathetic...an abyss of hollowness she's in...what a vivid sketch of character...

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  2. You have characterized her so very well, Wendy. I have known people like this as well, those who complain about this and complain about that and nothing is ever their fault. It is tiresome after a while. I like 'she whined like a gramophone.'

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  3. I have met those people.. somehow they are caricatures.... someone from a Moliére play... always unhappy, always putting the blame elsewhere.. sad and brilliant composition.

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  4. I would stay away from her like as they are depressing to listen to ~ It is always a blaming game on others, but not herself ~

    You described her very well Wendy ~

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  5. Profound again, Wendy. Love your gramophone opening, the "she never owned a moment ending," and everything in between.

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