I don’t know his name, the man with the bell.
He rings it while looking me in the eye
And flinging “Merry Christmas” to compel
Me to put money in, and not pass by.
His righteous challenge intimidates me,
I fling his “Merry Christmas” back, don’t stop,
Go in, do my business, and, “Bless thee,”
I assault him with when I leave the shop.
But one pale day he looked so sad and cold
And said “One more hour till five o’clock.”
Later I gave him a Dove bar and told
Him “Bless you” without impulsion to mock.
And every time now, when he rings his bell,
I drop coins into his donation well.
_______________
Copyright © 2012 by Morris Dean
| Please comment |
The bell-ringer turned out to be a regular guy. Bell-ringing for the Salvation Army collection point (in front of a grocery store in Mebane, NC) was just a job, and one that he said he wasn't going to apply for next year. Too cold, too windy, too hard on his feet!
ReplyDeleteWhen I shared with him that I found his way of saying "Merry Christmas, have a nice day!" to be intimidating (I told him that only a son-of-a-bitch could ignore that and go in without donating something), he said that it was just his normal enthusiasm, the way he'd do any job. That seemed to break the ice.
I didn't tell him that he was about to become the subject of a sonnet....
So you just randomly stalk people - trail runners, bell ringers, people who happen to chat with you while you are on vacation - and put them on the web without warning, eh? Now there is a lesson to the rest of us. While many of us are concerned about personal privacy due to drones and domestic spying by the government, should we instead be worrying more about the blogger next door?
DeleteHa, it seems that I do. Thanks for capturing that thought for me!
DeleteBut that anyone could worry about this particular blogger is rather hard to imagine. Please tell me more (if there's more to say on that concern).
Morris, your Salvation Army man sonnet is quite vivid and thought provoking. As you know, I am quite the skeptic about poetry being much more than a novelty when it comes to serious written communication, but you make a strong case here that in a few select circumstances it may have its place.
ReplyDeleteIt just may, might it! Thanks for the favorable comment on my effort. I attempted to set the problem or situation in the first eight lines (the "octave"), then resolve or develop it in the final six (the "sestet")—the traditional set-up for a sonnet.
Delete