{"id":1515,"date":"2024-03-19T19:03:43","date_gmt":"2024-03-19T19:03:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/imaginedtheatres.com\/?post_type=theatre&#038;p=1515"},"modified":"2024-03-19T19:13:56","modified_gmt":"2024-03-19T19:13:56","slug":"worstward-ho","status":"publish","type":"theatre","link":"https:\/\/www.imaginedtheatres.com\/worstward-ho\/","title":{"rendered":"Worstward Ho"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><em>To Beckett<\/em><\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>The father and his child plod somehow on<\/p>\n<p>past Croker\u2019s Acres, down the fields and lanes.<\/p>\n<p>The image rises, flickers, and is gone.<\/p>\n<p>Madness in your skull is what remains.<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Hand in hand they go. Father explains<\/p>\n<p>the twain must jump from \u201cForty-Foot\u201d at dawn.<\/p>\n<p><em>Be a brave boy<\/em>, he calls, as all else wanes.<\/p>\n<p>The father and his child plod nohow on.<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>The wished-for, given hand is soon withdrawn.<\/p>\n<p>In the gazebo, Father\u2019s belly strains;<\/p>\n<p>he snoozes after lunch. Gaze past the lawn<\/p>\n<p>to Croker\u2019s Acres, well-trod fields and lanes,<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>until the scene recedes. Your skull retains<\/p>\n<p>an Easter Friday birth. Child still unborn,<\/p>\n<p>the father roams the hills till daylight drains,<\/p>\n<p>then strikes a match. He flickers and is gone.<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p><em>Don\u2019t look down at the rocks. Be brave, my son.<\/em><\/p>\n<p>Hearing the gouging whistle of the trains,<\/p>\n<p>the boy recalls his only good deed done.<\/p>\n<p>A rescued hedgehog\u2019s stench is what remains.<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>The voice builds company. Whispers. Refrains.<\/p>\n<p>A black-clad woman paces, curtains drawn.<\/p>\n<p>You hear them still\u2014the cries, the labor pains.<\/p>\n<p>And far below, as though the two were one,<\/p>\n<p>the father calls his child.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The father and his child plod somehow on\npast Croker\u2019s Acres, down the fields and lanes.\n","protected":false},"menu_order":0,"template":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.imaginedtheatres.com\/api\/wp\/v2\/theatres\/1515"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.imaginedtheatres.com\/api\/wp\/v2\/theatres"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.imaginedtheatres.com\/api\/wp\/v2\/types\/theatre"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.imaginedtheatres.com\/api\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1515"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}