Weapon

By Carmina Gitana

When we met, he had a weapon.
A gun. Kept it polished, kept it clean.
Kept it smooth, a well-oiled machine.

When he left, he left
in a hurry. Left
the gun with me.

I didn't touch it for a long time.
Kept polishing
silver & mahogany, keeping watch
by the window, darning lace.

Then, one day, I picked it up,
the gun. Not so fearsome now,
still & dull from being put away,
clicking empty like a clucking tongue
without much to say.

I oiled it up, loaded it
with cherry pits and milk teeth,
polished it to a lethal gleam.

Now I sit by the window,
the silver growing dull,
keeping watch by the window
for his face.

Unauthorized Copying Is Prohibited. Ask the author first.
Copyright 2010 Carmina Gitana
Published on Saturday, January 16, 2010.     Filed under: "Poetry"
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Comments on "Weapon"

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  • Alchemist On Friday, October 21, 2011, Alchemist (688)By person wrote:

    I love the metaphor of the gun in this poem

  • Meadowhawk On Thursday, December 9, 2010, Meadowhawk (163)By person wrote:

    Intense piece! Well written.

  • TropicalSnowstorm On Friday, May 7, 2010, TropicalSnowstorm (1703)By person wrote:

    "Now I sit by the window, the silver growing dull, keeping watch by the window for his face." - Excellent! Love this one. Hope he knows what is waiting if he ever comes back... : ) Ciao, T/S Scholar

  • Stranger On Tuesday, March 16, 2010, Stranger (264)By person wrote:

    I heard it said recently (in reference to Mr Cohen), that poetry communicates before it is understood. Communication received. I have not been on here for a while. I did not realize you had posted yet another amazing poem. Thank you.

  • MercyRain On Tuesday, March 2, 2010, MercyRain (105)By person wrote:

    Something about this I'm still trying to figure out, in particular the ending... I love the phrasing about the unloaded gun clucking like a tongue with nothing to say, amusing and pointed... it says everything and nothing... I like much too the ebbing and flowing thru the poem of the gun's luster, I'm guessing much like the ebb and flow of emotions attached to him through the time period... I'm guessing it's been a while since he left, long enough for the tide to rise and fall and rise again... i guess where i've been struggling is the ending, so resolute, so determined, just waiting for him to return to... but there's still a catharsis about it, the gun's already been dulling again... yeah, just struggling because the obvious ending just didnt feel right... everything's already ebbing, already dulling... there's security in the vigilance but it's forced and the cracks are already there...

  • Dilated View On Saturday, January 16, 2010, Dilated View (583)By person wrote:

    This read like a state of mind. Ready to shoot off, keeping your mind-weapons sharp for battle whether battle was presented or sought. I may be off on that but I enjoyed the way you constructed this. Nicely done :)

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