Witnesses

[heslopian]

"For with my own eyes I saw the Sibyl hanging in a jar at Cumae, and when the boys said to her, 'Sibyl, what do you want?' she replied, 'I want to die.'" - Gaius Petronius Arbiter (27 - 66 AD), from his Satyricon

perhaps I am old on the inside. I haven't seen much,
no wars or revolutions, but when flowers bloom again,
the snow dissolving, making way, and days grow longer
like a volume increase, I dare to believe I've had my fill.

the roundabout ceaselessy spinning, pushed by hands
I cannot see, so all that exists beyond the ride's edge
is a multicoloured blur; when I write these poems
I feel like my brother whining about his dinner,
the sweet chicken curry our father made,
poking at it with a fork and believing he's suffered enough.

I strain against a jar of sorts,
but then so does everyone else.

[billy]

as you know i'm not into intros' too much and not knowing who sybil was or gaius i decided to pretend i did and carry on with the rest of the poem.

what a delight, though the 1st verse felt a little cryptic as to what 'my fill' was.

the first two words of the 2nd verse made me think of revolutions (number of spins) and gave me a boost.
i presumed the roundabout is a metaphor for life, if so then yes, i can see how the edges of it become a blur
great image in opinion. and then the brother brings us down to earth who whines like the rest of us.

i like the last two lines (is 'of sorts' needed)
my other nit is a couple of 'the's in the 1st verse that feel two the's too much)

good read jack.

[heslopian]

The epigram was also used by T. S. Eliot at the start of his The Waste Land, except it was in its original Latin. Sybil was a mythological character who'd seen the entirety of human existance from her jar, hence the title "Witnesses."
By "my fill" I meant my fill of life.
I'll delete the "the"s from before "flowers" and "days," partly because "the flowers bloom again" doesn't really make sense. Looking back it implies that the very same flowers which died last year are coming back to life.
As the jar in the final couplet is a reference to the epigram I think the "of sorts" is needed.
Thanks for the feedback Billy.

[billy]

maybe your right jack on the jar point. in hind sight the of sorts does add something to the line.
i strain against the jar' on it's own feels stunted.