Skip to main content

Time stood still (2 of 3)


And the same thing happened at the petrol station.

Musing:
Filling Station by Elizabeth Bishop
Oh, but it is dirty!
--this little filling station,
oil-soaked, oil-permeated
to a disturbing, over-all
black translucency.
Be careful with that match!

Father wears a dirty,
oil-soaked monkey suit
that cuts him under the arms,
and several quick and saucy
and greasy sons assist him
(it's a family filling station)

Do they live in the station?
It has a cement porch
behind the pumps, and on it
a set of crushed and grease-
impregnated wickerwork;
on the wicker sofa
a dirty dog, quite comfy.

Some comic books provide
the only note of color--
of certain color. They lie
upon a big dim doily
draping a taboret
(part of the set), beside
a big hirsute begonia.

Why the extraneous plant?
Why the taboret?
Why, oh why, the doily?
(Embroidered in daisy stitch
with marguerites, I think,
and heavy with gray crochet.)

Somebody embroidered the doily.
Somebody waters the plant,
or oils it, maybe. Somebody
arranges the rows of cans
so that they softly say:
ESSO--SO--SO--SO

to high-strung automobiles.
Somebody loves us all."
Labels:

Comments

  1. JulieJune 7, 2009 at 8:20 AM

    What a delightful picture that poem paints! Monkey suits, doillys ... and oiling the plant.

    I was sorely tempted by old petrol pumps too, but thought I might to pushing a friendship to stop every 500m!

    I like how the colour of the leaves echoes the colour of the pump.

    This is a nice little series ...

    ReplyDelete
  2. PJJune 7, 2009 at 2:58 PM

    Again, the light. I can see the whole poem, very humorous.

    ReplyDelete
  3. MartinaJune 7, 2009 at 10:31 PM

    Very very nice!

    I am wondering why there are no old petrol pumps in Germany --- guess there might be a law to dismantle them if not anymore in use.

    ReplyDelete
  4. UnknownJune 7, 2009 at 11:56 PM

    It makes a fantastic photo, but I think it deserves being in a museum. I have never seen one so cool!

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The end

I retire from the workforce this week and to celebrate have decided to retire my current blogs and start afresh with a single consolidated blog -  My Bright Field  - to record the delights of my new life adventure. If you are interested follow me over there.  I will still be Sweet Wayfaring and collecting Royal Hotels.  The delights I discover along the way will appear together with my gardens and towns where I live.
Post a Comment
Read more

Larras Lee

We passed through Bakers Swamp without noticing anything.  Then reached our last dot on the map for this trip - Larras Lee and saw this.  The roadside monument says: In Memory of  WILLIAM LEE  (1794 - 1870)  of "Larras Lake"  a pioneer of the sheep  and cattle industry  and first member for  Roxburgh under responsible  government (1856 - 1859).  This stone was erected  by his descendants.  --- 1938 --- This is a repost from a few days ago. Thinking I would use this for this week’s Taphophile Tragics post I dug a little further into William Lee’s story, it’s a very colonial Australian one. William was born of convict parents, living his childhood years around the Sydney region. In his early 20s he was issued with some government cattle, recommended as a suitable settler and granted 134 acres at Kelso near Bathurst. He was one of the first in the area and did well. A few years later he was granted a ram and an increase in his land to 300 acres. William developed a r
9 comments
Read more

Coolibah?

Is that a Coolibah tree beside the abandoned house? Every Australian knows about Coolibah trees because the bush ballad Waltzing Matilda is nigh on our unoffical national anthem but most of us live nowhere near the inland where they grow. Once a jolly swagman camped by a billabong, Under the shade of a Coolibah tree, And he sang as he watched and waited till his billy boiled, You'll come a Waltzing Matilda with me. Waltzing Matilda, Waltzing Matilda, You'll come a Waltzing Matilda with me, And he sang as he watched and waited till his billy boiled You'll come a Waltzing Matilda with me.
13 comments
Read more