Dickensblog

A very strange thing happened to me the other morning: I woke up with an idea for a poem. That hasn't happened in years. But I rather liked this idea, so I went ahead and wrote the poem, and here it is (below the cut). It's based on A Tale of Two Cities, and the speaker is Mr. Lorry.

By the Fire

I still remember how he looked that night,
The way his color came and went — no more
Than shadows cast by flickering firelight
(Or so I thought; my eyes were dim and sore).

His voice, beneath the crackle, was so clear
My old ears barely caught the tremor there;
Facing the loss of so much I held dear,
I had but little heedfulness to spare.

He seemed distracted too, as I recall,
His foot so near the flame it made me start.
One hasty word of caution — that was all
I gave that night, to aid that burdened heart.

So bright the blaze, it's strange I could not see
The fire within the man who sat with me.

Gina Dalfonzo