Hell’s bells and buckets of bloody blood!
My mother used to say
and after Australia
she said it every day
It used to be
just Hell’s bells and buckets of blood
but bloody was a word oft heard
in the land of Oz you see
Hell’s bells—an apt description
for news now from everywhere
it would have given her conniptions
were she still here
Hell, I’d even use the cuss she bequeathed me
except I don’t accept religious geography
and know that Hell is here on Earth
and not some seven circled place beneath
Hell’s bells – the cuss abbreviated
hardly reflects the place we’ve come to
climate change, genocidal wars
from decency and democracy we’ve deviated
Hell’s bells and buckets of blood
for greater impact
our world is in the toilet
and that’s a fact
So still I hear my mother’s voice
raised in exasperation
uttering her curse of choice
Hell’s bells and buckets of bloody blood!
© Andrew Wilson, 2024
Over at dVerse Poets Pub, dorahak in Poetics inspires us with a very fulsome prompt, to write using repetition as a poetic tool…
Oh wow, it’s a powerful mantra, Hells Bells indeed here in oz, it’s hot enough for a start!! The world is such a hell at the moment. I don’t believe in a swirly lava filled pool beneath called hell, it could never be enough to match the hell we’ve created here. Great poem!
I enjoyed this very much! Some superb lines, and very clever references…the darkness was gratifying..none of this sweet sugary stuff here…I am desperately gathering together some minutes to properly answer your wonderful words on a previous post on Substack, want to do it proper justice and not just wriite a coupe of words…apologies, and this really was a great read…nothing like the truth to hurt…
Thank you Ain – I had to cross reference you on your blog as the photo looked like you but the words were in Cyrillic which I hadn’t noticed before. I look forward to hearing from you on Substack – I have a blog there too but I don’t find people comment at al as they do here…
Very interesting poem.
Much♡love
Thank you Gillena – apologies for the swearing – I blame the parents…
I used to say ‘Hell’s bells’ too! I don’t know why I stopped; it’s a powerful saying, it rhymes, it has sound and some devilish power.
No, it is a slightly quaint old fashioned saying now but it seems to be ringing bells for a few people, Kim…
TRUTH: I never heard my mother utter a curse word, not once in my life. My sisters and certainly did and often as teen, Hell’s Bells included; cannot imagine how we picked it up.
Love the ‘religious geography’ and Hell as ‘ some seven circled [punishing]place beneath’.
Well done, my Friend.
I love a good curse, so much more powerful with variations than f*** all the time. Love yours, and it is apt with the status of the earth as we speak.
Thanks, Björn, its hard to get away from the looming threats at the moment…
Her exclamations would be well-deserved for such a time as this, Andrew. That we can even say that there are genocides going on and in the next moment that democracy is going to hell in a hand basket (which it may already have) seems apocalyptic to me . . . and a harbinger of things to come.
Thanks, Dora, I was always amused by the extra “bloody” added after our trip to Australia and I never imagined immortalising her in a poem such as this (for which I’m not sure she would necessarily thank me) but you never know where a good prompt will lead you…
Now this is a curse word 😀 I might go on to use haha! A stunning poem, Andrew ❤️❤️
Goodness – you’re up late Sanaa – never meant to lead i
To lead anyone into bad habits…
I love it and sometimes a good cuss word or verse, gets all our emotions out. Good one Andrew!
Thanks, Grace, though I can’t imagine you to be one to cuss but verse, well now you’re talking…