Execution of a Muse

[Greebie]

You do it tenderly, with silk wire
Cat-cradled among your fingers, a halo
At first, then a crown, then a blindfold.

Whimsically, you will reach her nose.
Give the string a little tug. Take a second
To shape a new face for her. She won't mind.
We are killing your muse, not your sister.

But once past the nose, stop for a second
Silently pass her lips with the noose
Twist it a bit, to set a fingerpress
Between the red pods of flesh.
Spread them and caress the teeth and tongue,
And leave the tips moistened to line
Her cheeks.

Ignore the chin -- you are
Not the patronizing kind --

And pull the thread tight. Fear not
Her neck is thin from having no voice
Nor spine.

Catch the blood in a tub
And bathe in it. The reward
For your betrayal is a softer skin,
With a light auburn tan.

[dar]

I really like this Greebie. The images worked for me...pretty damn powerful, I'd say. Had more a feel of a prose poem or excerpt from an essay or short story but nice!

[Greebie]

Thanks for the n(v)ote. I'm not sure about the prose poem idea. I was trying to do some things with the line breaks that wouldn't work in a prose poem.

I have a rhymer around somewhere. I could post that.

Ryan. . .

[Charles]

Help me here. When I first read this I thought the Muse you were killing was a cat. Now I think I misread the second line. Pretty gruesome either way.

[Greebie]

Muse = a god inspiring to an artist, usually portrayed as female.

Cat-cradle = a game of tying a string among your fingers.

I'm trying to use the "murder/execution" metaphor to describe the artistic process -- I hoped to relieve the reader some gruesomeness by the "not your sister" line -- that the woman "we" are killing is not a real woman -- but a muse, an "unreal woman" -- except I'm hoping to challenge my reader because, to me, a poem is usually of no consequence -- it's just hard to convince yourself of this sometimes when you are reading it (a good one, anyway).

But stupid me, again, obsessed with process. I could just try to write more poems and then shut the heck up. But there's not a chance of that.

[Cohen Kid]

I don't think I understood much of it, I'm sorry...
But I did like some images of it!!

It certainly is very good written!!!
I like the title!!
that's why i started reading it!!
greetings, stefan

[lizzytysh]

I could just try to write more poems and then shut the heck up. But there's not a chance of that. But there's not a chance of that.

Now, there's a bit of good news.

~ Lizzy