The Friday Poem: ‘Little King' by Heather Holdaway
Little King
Austerlitz
Looking across the frozen lake
I demanded mama's soup from Corsica
To be heated
Slightly higher heels
For my riding boots
A fresh quill to sign the inevitable Treaty
Tomorrow
And my men
Oh my men
Oh my glorious tomorrow men
None of whom need higher heels
For their riding boots
Tonight to wait
Under pine fronds
To remember despite our fake limping
Our many loud shouts of man,
How sad and unfulfilled and poorly we sure were feeling
Imminent victory
Is imminent
Also to remember please
To avoid the touching of their winkies
To the ice.
***
Borodino
Have you ever won
Technically
Followed the Yellow Brick Road that
Leads to the Emerald City
Only some total rip
Has set it on fire
And you slowly rub your hands together
In its glow
Avoiding eye contact
With your men next to you
Oh your men
Oh your men for whom there is no more tomorrow
Who you would like to bathe in a bath of warm bubbles
Soft flannels for their scarred backs
Hot soup for their hollow selves
Slowly blackening from their digits inward
Despite the heat of Moscow
Have you?
Nah.
Me neither.
***
Elba
It is an hour after midnight
Men have brought me a letter
Their faces turn from mine
Men, I would like to insist in my socks
Men, about Moscow, look
About this whole Elba misunderstanding
But the letter is about you
It is small, damp from the crossing
Betrayed with the fingerprints of many men
I had once dreamed to be your stockings, your little boots, your gloves
To hold you
Tall in my love
Now, men close the door behind them and ignore my raw weeping
Then they open the door again
Shuffle in
Confiscate my letter opener that
Slit open the great white belly of this news
For it to pour out
Welcome as the guts of fish
Then they close the door again softly
Still glorious, my men
A locked room
On an island
Has never felt lonely
Until now
I cannot even click my heeled boots together and ask to go home
Because it is late
And I am socked
And you are gone
We die in the midst of marvels
And so I live on without you,
Josephine.
Notes
Little King – Elba section references Napoleon I, Emperor of the French 1769-1821, (2022) Letters to Josephine. Musaicum Books. Translated by Hall, Henry Foljambe.
'It is an hour after midnight', and 'We die in the midst of marvels' are direct quotes from Letter No.4, Series A from Letters to Josephine.
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Otago Daily Times
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The Friday Poem: ‘Little King' by Heather Holdaway
A new poem by Heather Holdaway. Little King Austerlitz Looking across the frozen lake I demanded mama's soup from Corsica To be heated Slightly higher heels For my riding boots A fresh quill to sign the inevitable Treaty Tomorrow And my men Oh my men Oh my glorious tomorrow men None of whom need higher heels For their riding boots Tonight to wait Under pine fronds To remember despite our fake limping Our many loud shouts of man, How sad and unfulfilled and poorly we sure were feeling Imminent victory Is imminent Also to remember please To avoid the touching of their winkies To the ice. *** Borodino Have you ever won Technically Followed the Yellow Brick Road that Leads to the Emerald City Only some total rip Has set it on fire And you slowly rub your hands together In its glow Avoiding eye contact With your men next to you Oh your men Oh your men for whom there is no more tomorrow Who you would like to bathe in a bath of warm bubbles Soft flannels for their scarred backs Hot soup for their hollow selves Slowly blackening from their digits inward Despite the heat of Moscow Have you? Nah. Me neither. *** Elba It is an hour after midnight Men have brought me a letter Their faces turn from mine Men, I would like to insist in my socks Men, about Moscow, look About this whole Elba misunderstanding But the letter is about you It is small, damp from the crossing Betrayed with the fingerprints of many men I had once dreamed to be your stockings, your little boots, your gloves To hold you Tall in my love Now, men close the door behind them and ignore my raw weeping Then they open the door again Shuffle in Confiscate my letter opener that Slit open the great white belly of this news For it to pour out Welcome as the guts of fish Then they close the door again softly Still glorious, my men A locked room On an island Has never felt lonely Until now I cannot even click my heeled boots together and ask to go home Because it is late And I am socked And you are gone We die in the midst of marvels And so I live on without you, Josephine. Notes Little King – Elba section references Napoleon I, Emperor of the French 1769-1821, (2022) Letters to Josephine. Musaicum Books. Translated by Hall, Henry Foljambe. 'It is an hour after midnight', and 'We die in the midst of marvels' are direct quotes from Letter No.4, Series A from Letters to Josephine.
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Regent Theatre Music Sale co-ordinator Mark Burrows examines a pressing of Eccentric Soul: The Nickel & Penny Labels amid boxes of DVDs at the theatre before its annual music sale on Saturday. PHOTO: PETER MCINTOSH Whether it is French field recordings, esoteric minimalist music or a 1959 concert at Dunedin's Town Hall, "crate diggers" are in for a treat at this year's Regent Theatre Music Sale. CDs, vinyl records, cassettes, DVDs, music sheets and more will be up for grabs at little cost on Saturday for the theatre's third annual sale. Sale co-ordinator Mark Burrows said about 1000 banana boxes worth of stock had been received so far. The music sale began as an off-shoot of the Regent Theatre's 24 Hour Book Sale to raise funds for the theatre. They were expecting a "real range" of customers on Saturday, Mr Burrows said. "Old guys like me, there'll be a bunch of them, crate diggers, but there's students who will turn up and look for a bargain or just out of curiosity." While the volume of donations was similar to last year, the quality this time around was better, he said. One particular donation contained next-to-new vinyl records that were "so outside the 99.5% of people's listening experience". This included a collection of electronic "non-music", which he believed were French field recordings of which only 350 copies were ever made. Also received was "a bunch of really interesting esoteric unusual music" of a "minimalist vein". "It'll be basically meaningless to the whole public, except for two people down at the music department in the University of Otago." Music from New Zealand bands such as the JPS Experience and Sneaky Feelings were also among the mix, as well as a recording of selected items from the King Edward Technical College Jubilee Music Festival, performed at the Dunedin Town Hall in August 1959. Vinyl records and CDs were good because they were physical mediums you could pick up and look at, Mr Burrows said. They had "just got cool". "So, I think it reflects a bit of that fringe edge of society. There's always people who are looking for cool stuff that the rest of the 95% don't know about. "And then there's the other side of it, the audiophile community, who believe, for good reason, that vinyl sounds better." The music sale runs from 10am to 6pm.
