I confess I am not a great fan of autobiographies that begin at the beginning and follow a temporal path up to the present day – not that the person might not have some interesting stories, facts and opinions strung on their necklace, but it just doesn’t appeal as a structure. On the other hand, in my last, extra year at school in Oxford, retaking an A-level and adding a couple more, I was allowed out of school on my recognisance and saw a fascinating Exhibition at the Modern Art Gallery. The Artist had laid out and photographed every single possession of a single person – for example, all the cutlery was laid out in one shot, all the shoes in another. This more thematic approach appeals more and although I am not arranging the objects which I have chosen to tell my story in chronological order, I hope that my writing will be sufficiently interesting to keep your interest Dear Reader, and that on the journey from A to Z, you will assemble an impression of my life and who I am…
When I was populating the list together for this A to Z 2025, the phrase “Objects of Desire” just popped into my head – it seemed a good idea at the time but I find I have no “bon mots” to offer. I have already confessed to a very unPC desire for certain Citroen cars (see “C”post) but here are a few other things I covet…
There is a film, which I saw during my time at The Ritzy Cinema, called “That Obscure Object of Desire” by Luis Buñuel, in which a late middle-aged man falls in love with an exploitative younger woman. I am now 70, but still one’s heart can be gripped and squeezed by the sight of beauty – it never goes away, seemingly…
On safer ground, though, boats, who are always female, here is poem about an unrequited (as yet) love…
Grant me a Boat
For goodness sake
grant me the bucket-list wish
of a boat
any boat will do
a picayune pram
to potter on a large pond
better still a proper rowboat
on a large lake
to drift down the wind lanes
a dry fly bobbing alluringly
on the ripple, gently retrieving
with the dream of a trout rising
A day sailer – better still
ducking the boom
on a dinghy is dodgy
at my age so day trips
on a Summer suitable sea
would fit the bill delightfully
sailing out and back
with the sea breeze
sometimes sleeping
in the cabin after stargazing
at anchor in some sheltering bay
And in the Winter
I would cherish
my little vessel
drawn up on the shore
cleaning and caulking
and laying on varnish
let me leave alliteration behind
and voyage forth
on real wavy waters –
so for goodness sake
one day
grant me a boat
© Andrew Wilson, 2024