the Light-off-House keeper

Do you remember that guy?
Yes, who turned off the lighthouse.
At that time things were awry
and it ended up in the madhouse.

“Birds are better than people.
They can fly and sit on the steeple.”

Then two or three were shipwrecked.
It was in late November…
All appeals were rejected.
I was small, but I still remember.

“Birds are better than people.
They don’t weep. Don’t beg for a nipple.”

I saw his look through the bars.
I read his bloodless parched lips.
“…they fade in the light… like stars…
…lighthouse is evil… full eclipse…”

“Birds are better than people.
They never doubt to kill a cripple.”

James Bond was my cult hero.
(No, not the dolt from the film!)
His books were my ground zero.
Birds became lords in my little realm.

“Birds are better than people…”
I’m the most industrious pupil.

I defeated wicked light.
I secure happy birdlife.
I keep eternal twilight.

Somewhere somebody cries… it’s a sailor’s wife.

* * * * *

This poem definitely was inspired by the amazing poem ‘Le gardien du phare aime trop les oiseaux’ (The Lighthouse Keeper Loves Birds Too Much) by French poet and screenwriter Jacques Prevert and the short animation based on it ‘Farat’ (The Lighthouse) by Bulgarian director Velislava Gospodinova.

I don’t share videos too often, but it’s worth watching.
I hope you’ll enjoy this short masterpiece.

With love,
your Unbolt

‘Le gardien du phare aime trop les oiseaux’
de Jacques Prévert

Des oiseaux par milliers volent vers les feux
Par milliers ils tombent par milliers ils se cognent
Par milliers aveuglés par milliers assommés
Par milliers ils meurent.
Le gardien ne peut supporter des choses pareilles
Les oiseaux il les aime trop
Alors il dit tant pis je m’en fous
Et il éteint tout
Au loin un cargo fait naufrage
Un cargo venant des îles
Un cargo chargé d’oiseaux
Des milliers d’oiseaux des îles
Des milliers d’oiseaux noyés.

by TETIANA ALEKSINA
© All rights reserved 2015

32 thoughts on “the Light-off-House keeper”

    • Oh… you gave me gooseflesh… from rapture!
      Thank you! I’m mad! I still can’t believe that it’s addressed to me and my little hobby ❤
      Thank you! Thank you! (yes, I never will be tired to thank my dear readers…)

      By the way! I use my inbox for reading too. I don't like rummaging across the reader… I prefer to be sure that daily digests from my favorites (it's silly to say that you're in this list, yes? 😛 ) are waiting for me every morning 🙂

      Liked by 1 person

  3. Your name is unbolt, but this one was bolted. Especially during the video, I felt my skin being twisted, torn, punctured with a bolt that wasn’t exactly ridged for the torture.
    You’re a plethora of interesting perspectives.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

    • Oh… I’m ready to torture you every day for the sake of such inspiring comments!
      A bolt? A nail? A self-tapping screw? I’m pretty kind today 😛

      LOL… Thank you, Michael! Your comments are outstanding always! You’re a PLETHORA of new amazing words and adrenaline buzz for me!!

      …the next jab…

      Liked by 1 person

  4. Brilliantly sad and uplifting all at once. Birds are better than people? This is the first time I have heard this concept. But I guess, man-bird is Alpha after all, eh?
    Bird without beak.
    Inspired by the French, really?
    Ha!
    Great work, as always from you my friend

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

    • You’re welcome Tati!

      I had originally written a longer comment yesterday that I spent like a half hour on, talking about your poem and the French poem, and connections I saw between them both, to the music video I shared, but I had lost my internet connection and didn’t realize it, and when I tried to post it, I lost everything I’d written 😦 I was so annoyed with losing all the time and energy I put into it, like what I put into my comment on your other post, that I couldn’t make myself try to write it all out again, so I just shared a short comment. 😦

      Anyways, I would love to read more posts by you like this, it was different than your usual shorter poems. Sharing other people’s poems with my own work is something I like to do, as you know, and seeing connections between things is something I enjoy, which is why when I leave a comment for someone, I usually share something their post made me think of. Not only did you share the poem connected to yours, but you shared a video with your post too – I love it when writers make their posts “an experience” with visuals and supplemental information! It’s not everyone’s personal preference, and I suppose it appeals to some people more than others.

      I really wish my original comment would have gone through though, but as you are familiar with your own poem and the French poem, you probably saw the interesting connections yourself in watching the video, and if you looked up the lyrics. I remember in my original comment, that I had said the lyrics paralleled “pillars of the heart” with the lighthouse.

      Anyways, I had really loved that music video, and before I read your post, I had always thought the song was inspired by Alfred Hitchcock’s movie The Birds and the quote below by Ernest Hemingway, because the title of the song is “popinjay”: I still think they were inspirations, but now I think the song’s meaning is even deeper, now that I have read your post.

      The quote is in an image I made for my post http://21shadesofblue.com/2015/03/24/fighting-bull-anti-bully-dark-humor-kanshi/ ten days ago. And by the way, I’m not suggesting you are a popinjay because you explained some things: sometimes it is good to do that – I do that myself. You are a Black-Crowned Yew-Crane, which to me is like the bloody owl Hemingway wrote of :P)

      Liked by 1 person

    • Thank you, Ry!

      Oh, I’m so sorry that you lost your comment… and happy that you repeated this feat for me again 🙂
      I really appreciate this!

      I’m agree with you. This post was different for me, and I liked this format. I’ll be making more posts like this in the future. Though, it was rather the action of improvising for me.

      I banged against this poem (the Russian translation. I tried to find the good English version for my post, but I failed… so I put the original, in French) and was enchanted by it. My poem was born very quickly. And then, before posting, I found this video (again, during my unsuccessful attempts to find the English translation. Nothing is in vain! It was so to the point!)

      I felt different. I wrote a short explanation for readers (again, I don’t do it usually)… what can I say? I surrendered to the flow 🙂
      And it was awesome 😛

      Thank you for the quote. The bloody owl… hoot! Hoot!
      Great… my dear Scourged Red-Winged Blackbird, I’m happy that I’m sharing the one sky with you ❤

      Liked by 1 person

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