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starting handle

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Dave
Posts: 1991
Joined: Mon Jan 08, 2018 9:07 am

starting handle

Post by Dave » Thu Jul 02, 2020 4:45 am

 Cold thickens the oil
so I take the driver’s seat
and my father the starting handle.
Her cranks the motor,
his arm a swift blur,
the engine fails to reciprocate.

It is not clear if its me,
late with the clutch or the starter,
fearful of flooding the carburettor
or my father’s choler, hardening
his resolve into a battle
between him and the weather,
or elemental physics. The second
wrench of the handle resists
and he curses, hurling the hardened
metal to the ground where it bounces
forward narrowly missing his leg.

I watch him straighten up, red faced,
fired up, his blood lit by a spark
that always waits for such a moment.
This moment is my childhood. We
were caught between the elements,
the solid earth and the ores that bind
and the heat and cold, the currents
that run through it all. He sees
my fear and relents. My father inserts
the starting handle again,
positions his thumb, loosens
his grip a little and swings
gently this time until he hears
a spluttering followed by a roar
and finally a hum. A voice
we can share.

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Gyppo
Posts: 1340
Joined: Sat Mar 31, 2018 3:28 pm
Location: UK

Re: starting handle

Post by Gyppo » Thu Jul 02, 2020 6:32 am

Dave, I really like this father and son moment.

The father, livid that a mechanical thing is defying him.  Seeing his son is frightened by this primal outrage, then calming down enough to try again in a more civilised way.

I can vividly picture the son, glad his father avoided an explosion, and the father, both rueful and satisfied at the same time.

Machinery can do this to even the most rational of us..  It seems to sit there with a mechanical smirk, taunting us.  If an engine won't start there's always a good reason, (applied physics), but sometimes logic flies out of the window and we become primitives, feeling that if we gesticulate enough, or make a blood sacrifice from gashed knuckles, the ancient gods will relent and the beast will purr into obedient life.

Gyppo
I've been writing ever since I realised I could.  Storytelling since I started talking.  Poetry however comes and goes  ;-)

Dave
Posts: 1991
Joined: Mon Jan 08, 2018 9:07 am

Re: starting handle

Post by Dave » Thu Jul 02, 2020 8:34 am

Thanks Gyppo
Yes my father was very often at war with machinery and tools. Not a naturally mechanically gifted man.
Dave
 

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Gyppo
Posts: 1340
Joined: Sat Mar 31, 2018 3:28 pm
Location: UK

Re: starting handle

Post by Gyppo » Thu Jul 02, 2020 12:20 pm

Dad understood marine steam engines, both coal and oil fired, but didn't have the same understanding of what he cheerfully referred to as Infernal Combustion Engines.  It sometimes really threw him when a bike which had worked perfectly the night before wouldn't start in the morning.

I would say that back then many people were more accepting of vehicles which were just slow or reluctant to start.  A classic case of "It doesn't like damp mornings."

A damp dynamo or magneto is easily fixed or better still prevented once you know what the problem is, but until then it becomes a battle of wills ;-)
I've been writing ever since I realised I could.  Storytelling since I started talking.  Poetry however comes and goes  ;-)

indar
Posts: 2908
Joined: Sun Jan 07, 2018 8:00 am

Re: starting handle

Post by indar » Sat Jul 04, 2020 9:39 am

Hi Dave,

I've read this several times--not because i have trouble understanding it but because i don't know where to start in telling you how much I relate to it. 
This moment is my childhood. We
were caught between the elements,
the solid earth and the ores that bind
and the heat and cold, the currents
that run through it all. He sees
my fear and relents.

The confluence of forces we, as children, do not understand but that bring the all=powerful parent into focus as a looming and frightening presence, and the willingness of the child to assume responsibility somehow. I love this one.

Dave
Posts: 1991
Joined: Mon Jan 08, 2018 9:07 am

Re: starting handle

Post by Dave » Sun Jul 05, 2020 11:48 am

Thanks Linda
You are as always too kind.
Dave

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Mark
Posts: 586
Joined: Sun Jan 07, 2018 4:19 am

Re: starting handle

Post by Mark » Mon Jul 06, 2020 11:20 am

I enjoyed the read and its original topic. I like the way the humanity of the characters blends with the mechanical aspects. It is longish and a story, so it is written in more of a narrative style which is fine - I did find this passage to be the most poetic, 

We were caught between the elements,
the solid earth and the ores that bind
and the heat and cold, the currents
that run through it all.

Dave
Posts: 1991
Joined: Mon Jan 08, 2018 9:07 am

Re: starting handle

Post by Dave » Tue Jul 07, 2020 2:08 pm

Thanks Mark
I am just glad you found some poetry.
Dave

Matty11
Posts: 1585
Joined: Thu Jan 11, 2018 7:58 pm

Re: starting handle

Post by Matty11 » Tue Jul 07, 2020 8:30 pm

Yes, good one Dave. The father/son relationship is focussed in the action. The hard 'c' cuts across the poem to reinforce the anger. frustration, threat. The 'shared voice' is more a release of tension for the child rather than an harmony, though I liked the way his influence tones down the father's intensity and contributes to the 'success'.

best

phil

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