Wednesday, February 19, 2014

682 : The Apartment

Image: Universal Studios Lot, Instagram by sessepien  (Modified)

Imaginary Garden with Real Toads invites us to write a quatern.
The Mag provided the image prompt.


The Apartment

They’re side-by-side but still apart,
The product of a building art
That gives a person somewhere to stay
But, in effect, locks them away.

Forming a body, but lacking a heart,
They’re side-by-side but still apart.
You can lie in bed through the night
And listen to some strangers fight.

The occupiers will seldom meet
As they scurry to and from the street
They’re side-by-side but still apart,
And interactions are à la Carte.

They’re called ‘apartments’ with good cause,
Boxes huddled on successive floors,
An architectural mockery of Descartes,
They’re side-by-side but still apart.
.
---
© J Cosmo Newbery 2014
---




Print this post

17 comments:

  1. I like the quatern and the refraining line is just apt ~

    ReplyDelete
  2. Delightfully done! Such a way with words, you have.

    For the record, it's not an apartment building, it's a human filing cabinet. I escaped from one late last year.

    Pece and joy, Cosmo.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Stunning. And I love (and agree with) Rob-bear's comment about the human filing cabinet.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Wow. Just wow. I have trouble when I try to follow given forms...they stifle me, and for quaterns I can never find the right refrain...yours flowed SO well.
    Human filing cabinet, indeed.
    Nice to meet you! I've been around d'Verse sporadically since it started, but this year I have a goal of at least doing OMN.
    Tina @ Life is Good

    ReplyDelete
  5. hmm...never quite thought apartments in that light, but definitely an interesting look inside. The form flows nicely with the selected refrain.

    ReplyDelete
  6. ha. nice use of form in this...
    oy i do not miss apartment living..
    it was fun in college...but after that
    it lost its novelty..completely. ha.

    ReplyDelete
  7. What's with apartments this week? Rel aka Bob over at "Under the Microscope" also wrote about apartments...and used that very same pic!

    Well done to you both! :)

    ReplyDelete
  8. Perfect epitaph to modern living! Living side by side but still strangers! Wonderful write Cosmo!

    Hank

    ReplyDelete
  9. I love the Quatern, and find the repetition works very well with some subjects. Your refrain line captures the subject and keeps us moving right along through the piece. Very well done.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Wow!! I love this! The rhythm flows beautifully and you've summed up that kind of living so well.

    ReplyDelete
  11. Great use of repetition!

    ReplyDelete
  12. I sometimes wonder how much the neighbors heard ,as I was growing up, when my folks fought and yelled in our house.

    ReplyDelete
  13. I admire how well you've used the form to shape and capture the image ~

    ReplyDelete
  14. Well said in all sorts of ways!

    ReplyDelete

You've come this far - thank you.
Take your time, look around,
There is lots to see.