Friday, August 12, 2011

Friday Flash 55 -- famous stairs

famous stairs bw by matthias-haker
famous stairs bw by
matthias-haker


Why are the stairs famous?
You don't want to know.
Do they have special meaning?
They weren’t here for show.
How many stories are there?
Building, five. Fables, one.
A fable about the stairs?
Aye, and a gatling gun.
Who was the gunslinger?
Best to ask who perished.
They were innocents?
Aye, and never cherished.

       MLydiaM ~ August 2011



Check out the latest crop of weekly FF55s (works of fiction in 55 words)
at Mr. KnowItAll...the G-Man.




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14 comments:

Don't Feed The Pixies said...

picture puts me in mind of those Escher drawings

I like your poem a lot - it comes from quite a dark place though doesnt it?

Brian Miller said...

very interesting...you have me spinning with questions about these stairs...fascinating 55...

mythopolis said...

Wow, this is almost scary to me, if I wasn't so hardened. I was reminded of Escher's drawings where staircases zig-zag up the page, but then leave you right where you started. Is there really a thing called progress?

G-Man said...

Lydia....?
Your story AND photo was fantastic!
I was anxiously awaiting every line and the mystery is still unsolved.
Loved your 55 My Friend
Thanks for playing, and have a Kick Ass Week-End

Rob-bear said...

Interesting picture; intriguing poetry. I don't have the answers for the questions. I do have a feeling that there's something potentially sinister at the top. I think: "Something wicked this way comes?" I'll check with Ray Bradbury.

Olga said...

Stairways often inspire strange and interesting thoughts. Seems like such an everyday object, but looking at it brings so much emotion and impressions.

Darlene said...

Who trod these stairs? How old are they? Are they dangerous? Where do they lead?

Those are the intriguing questions that the picture brings to mind. I think you could make up your own story. They look dangerous to me.

Lydia said...

Pixies~ It fascinates me that both you and mythopolis said the photo reminds you of Escher! Like minds...
Thanks for your comments on my poem. It is dark, but that is where the image led me and I was surprised by it.

Brian~ Thanks much. I really want to know why the photographer titled this image "famous stairs"!

G-Man~ Ah, thanks, and have a great weekend yourself! That photographer might happen upon this post sometime since I linked his name to his site. I'd love to know more about it.

Rob-bear~ Now you have me curious about the quote. It did intrigue me that, although there is light coming from the top of the stairs, it does not feel like a helpful light...

Olga~ You are sure right about that! Someone has probably at some point done a book of stairs...if not, someone should. :)

Darlene~ I did make up my own story! I have absolutely no idea where those stairs are, how old they are, why the photographer titled his work "famous stairs" and I, like you, wish for answers!

Anonymous said...

What a cool picture! I'm diggin your 55, but now want to know the backstory ~

Lydia said...

yellowhousecafe~ I think it is so cool, too. Thanks for diggin my 55. :)

ds said...

Awesome photo. But I do want to know who perished. Butch and Sundance? Doc Holliday?
Something Borgesian about those stairs, as though they lead to another world, crumbling...mysterious...

Stickup Artist said...

Those stairs remind me of the popular video game "'Call of Duty." It is a war game with various "maps" or scenarios and this reminded me of a couple of the more urban settings. Turns out, my first impression was spot on. Wouldn't it be wonderful if we could only simulate war games rather than actually act them out in real life.

Your words ring true. Unfortunately they will continue to reverberate into into an indefinite future...

Roxana said...

this is a gorgeous photograph, i stare and stare... and i also stare at it through your words, and strangely they don't seem at all alien to me, on the contrary, i feel as if i had imagined them, the moment i have started to inhabit the photo...

Lydia said...

***ds and Stickup~ So sorry to be late in replying to your kind comments!***

ds~ Your comment was like a 27-word FF! Something Borgesian...
Thanks for being here.

Stickup Artist~ Interesting that you would relate the photo to a video game. I don't know them so can only imagine this scene coming to "life" in a game. Weird, but in a powerful way. And, yes, it would be wonderful if war was only a simulation, and I wish we could will it so, as we shared a similar reaction to the image.

Roxana~ How wonderful that you, and Stickup Artist above, and I all had a like-minded sense of the soul of this remarkable photo. I have studied it also and find that I love the image but hate the feeling that grows inside me when looking at it. I just feel like crying, that is the truth of it.

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