Tuesday Poem: “Thinning” by Tim Jones
Thinning
We age in birthdays and anniversaries, gatherings
of welcome and farewell. “You’re looking good,” we say,
despite receding hairlines, bellies rounding by the year –
too little exercise, too much time
spent in front of screens. Babies
are now children; children, amazingly, teens,
embarked on their own, mysterious journeys.
With offspring pairing up and parents fading,
we will soon be grandparents, elders,
joining Grey Power, plotting world cruises,
or clinging on bravely till a resentful State
throws spatters of coin at our needs.
Once there was a world of manual typewriters
and Gestetner stencils. We were the coming thing, and then,
the moment varying for each of us, history rolled past
and left us in its wake. There are more gatherings
ahead: phone calls, arrangements.
It will be sudden. It will be long-expected and
(we say behind our hands) really, a relief.
At the funeral home. At St Mary’s. On the short,
springy grass next to the family crypt.
Afterwards, coffee, comfort food, a few
discreet but welcome drinks, the chatter
resuming once again. The relatives
puzzled, trying to work out who we are.
“You’re looking good,” we say, the conversation
conducted in whispers, in echoes, thinning.
.
(c) Tim Jones
~ from Men Briefly Explained, Interactive Press, 2011
Reproduced here with permission
—
About the Poem:
I wanted to feature a poem from Tim’s third poetry collection, Men Briefly Explained, which has just been published by Interactive Press. Tim was kind enough to send me a selection of poems to consider and Thinning immediately “spoke” to me.
I like its poetic form and also its universality—a commonality of human experience that I instantly recognised at a “gut” level. Thinning also made me appreciate the versatility and depth of Tim’s poetry yet again, especially when juxtaposed with other recent featured poems such as Shetland Ponies, Haast Beach, (on the Tuesday Poem Hub on August 16), Men at Sea, and happened to meet
Tim is currently on a book launch tour for Men Briefly Explained that will see him appearing in Dunedin tonight, at the Circadian Rhythm Café, 72 St Andrew Street, 8pm,and Christchurch tomorrow night at the Christchurch Polytechnic Students Association hall, 5 Madras Street, at 5.30 pm.
For more book tour details and more on Men Briefly Explained, see http://timjonesbooks.blogspot.com/p/men-briefly-explained.html
—
About the Poet:
Tim Jones is a poet and author of both science fiction and literary fiction who was awarded the New Zealand Society of Authors Janet Frame Memorial Award for Literature in 2010. Ti’s previous collections are Boat People (2002) and (the very topical!) The All Blacks’ Kitchen Garden (HeadworX, 2007). Among his recent books are short story collection Transported (Vintage, 2008) and poetry anthology Voyagers: Science Fiction Poetry from New Zealand (Interactive Press, 2009), co-edited with Mark Pirie. Voyagers won the “Best Collected Work” category in the 2010 Sir Julius Vogel Awards.
—
To read the featured poem on the Tuesday Poem Hub and other great poems from fellow Tuesday poets around the world, click here or on the Quill icon in the sidebar.
A great little poem – funny and sad all at once.
Yes, it is–I think poems that tap into that sense of our common humanity, and also mortality, always appeal to me. The poem you chose for the Hub, “Shetland Poies, Haast Beach” is an impressive example of Tim’s work, though.
Thought-provoking, and so true!
Maybe a little too true for complete comfort, but that is just another reason why I like it. A poem should never be entirely comfortable, I feel …
Brilliant! I’m hoping to head off to Tim’s launch in Wellington tomorrow afternoon – fingers crossed I can juggle family obligations and make it!
I’m sure Tim would be very pleased to see you there as he spins through his whirlwind tour …:)
I went! In fact, the whole family went! I was allowed to stay for about 5 mins before daughter lost the plot! Ha, I didn’t expect it to be any different, really… At least I got my signed copy of MBE, with a kind note from Tim. Loving the poems I’ve read so far, some are very sharp indeed.
Mary, I am sorry your launch experience was cut short, but glad you are enjoying the book—some sharp poems indeed!