Fifteen Minutes of Fame.

The most significant you'll ever be -

standing on the bridge at junction 13 of the M53.

Isolated in your desperate misery,

available on the BBC

I Player - traffic alerts,

stopped it all you have

police don't want you to hurt

yourself or anybody else.

The radios of the cars below drone on with your plight, 

your ultimate fight or flight moment

commentated on by Radio One in terms of

commuter ETA's and length of expected delays.

You're worth nothing to them you see.

You're just making them late for tea,

or meeting number three

of the day as you waste time away.

Their to do lists melting in to the tarmac

their sweat collecting in crevices

cranking up the disdain for the stranger

on the edge

of that desperate ledge:

'Just hurry up and jump if you're gonna jump!

My wife has got the right hump

with me

I'm late for my tea

you're holding everybody

up! The audacity

of some people!

Thinking we can wait to see if he'll leap or

not, well! I've got news for you mate!

We can't all be late

because of your current mental state

so hurry up and decide your fate before

my Wife deadlocks the front door.'

Aren't people f*****g great?

You think

whilst you contemplate how relief

would wash warm over your worthless body

as you let your heels slip from under your legs.

Ended it all now. Dead.

Author's Note

ALL critique is welcome...PLEASE be honest. That is all that I ask.

Reviews

[Rosalind Gale]

Well, what to make? I know Chester quite well, though I am an American living in Ca. I have travelled a bit. You know, I kind of loved this poem - it is ordinary, funny, prosaic in its references - and all mixed up together in a wistful, sad, yet uplifting way. I think you are quite intriguing in your style and thought process. I will return to you, for more. With best love to you -
Rosalind
-x-

[michelle]

Thank you! yeah, I'm glad you enjoyed it's 'ordinary-ness', this is something that I want to come through in all of my poems, I like to keep it simple and honest. thanks for your feedback, very much appreciated!

[Rosalind Gale]

You are very welcome! Say hello to the George and Dragon for me - nice joint for a beer!
-x-

[michelle]

Of course, any excuse! x

[Xxxxxx]

Intense poem, person seem emotionally desperate to want out in life. And yes people seem not to care cause at the end the only person that'll help a person USB themselves. Love the poem.

[Lovecraft]

I like it, but some of the British slang/idioms throw me off a little bit as I live in New York, lol. The poem is also slightly confusing, but in a good way.

I do love the show Sherlock so very much though. ;P

[michelle]

hahaha, that has made me laugh. You have come to the right place if you're looking for abstract British Idioms and references...i am literally so Northern even some of my friends don't know what i'm talking about half the time, so good luck to you! I'm glad you liked it in spite of all the weird references, maybe you should stop by every day for a brain teaser? instead of doing a crossword?

[alanwgraham]

I think you have every right to take yourself seriously as a writer. You have got lots of good images in this work. I like the line 'lists melting into the tarmac' particularly. It worked well giving the response of the motorists.
Just thought - an option could be to miss out the last line or perhaps reword it to allow either a deliberate or accidental fall. I decided to leave the conclusion open in my story ' the letter' and got a mixed response but I think I persuaded them.
Very well done,
Alan