Tuesday, April 27, 2010

Ode to Mary Shelley

I entered this world by your hands
Your greatest triumph! You created man!

One glance at me, into my yellow eyes
Your pride turned to fear, love to despise

You’ve lived a life of privilege and education
The death of your mother led to my creation

You toiled and slaved up in that tower
Until the clock rang that fateful hour

I entered this world by your hands
Your greatest triumph almost went as planned

One look at me into my yellow eyes
And your love turned to fear, pride to despise


You abandoned me that fateful day
A choice you made and forever will pay

While you recovered from my horrid existence
I had no one to trust, fled societal resistance

This lifetime I have spent alone
Yet each part of me once had a life of its own

What choice did I have? Can’t you understand!
Look what I am – a monster – not man!

No one to talk to, to touch, to hold
Do I have a soul or is my heart doomed to be cold.

Revenge is mine for all this pain
It is your turn to play my game

First your brother, a child so young
I held his throat and there he hung

Next your cousin, framed for the murder of your brother
Yet deep down you blamed him for the death of your mother

I only asked you to create me a friend
You chose to destroy her near the end

In a fit of madness, you ripped her apart at her seams
You decided right then to give up on your dreams

Eye for an eye, you lived your life
Surprised you were not when I murdered your wife

Living alone, as I have done
Tortured, condemned, like father like son.

Monday, April 26, 2010

Post Two: Sophie Contiuned

Being away from you is driving me into madness. Some may say it is the cold that is turning my mind dark or mood melancholy. Others have suggested my voluntary isolation is the cause. Whatever is said or though, I don’t make an effort to make corrections. To do so, would be to blame you for my malady. Malady? Surely this is not what it has become. I am a writer. Writers tend to be isolated and introverted so why have I suddenly been subjected to peering eyes?

That is what ignites anger, not you. You are my spark. A lovely, glowing ember of a spark. And surely, no one could argue that a spark can be cause for a raging fire. No, Sophie. You are a spark that only burns to provide warmth.

I’ll show them all. I will not throw logs onto their imaginable fire! I will cast off my jacket and gloves to prove the only warmth I need to live comes from thoughts of you, my dear Sophie. I will keep my scarf because you gave it to me. I remember. You did! I know it was a coy gesture that wasn’t meant to be seen by anyone but I. That day, while you were walking along the platform, when a gust of wind came in from the east and blew your gentle curls and your scarf danced into the air and gently landed by my feet. You turned and would not look at me. You looked at everyone else on the platform except me. That is how I knew you wanted me to catch your scarf. I knew you wanted me to keep it because you did not wait for me to give it back. Instead you began to walk faster …. And then faster … until you were nearly running. What a devilish flirt you were that day, Sophie.

I need to finish my writing. I have to rekindle my love affair with my Caligraph, the way I once had before you, Sophie.

Post One: My Dear Sophie.

Despite the clanking punches from the keys on my Caligraph typewriter, the droplets of rain hitting the window still interrupt my thoughts. Will they ever stop? It has been three days of rain and harsh winds. I am lonely and waiting patiently for news to arrive of my dear Sophie. I’m sure it is because of the rain that has been cause for her letter to arrive late … or arrive at all.

The last time I saw her, she was standing beside her suitcase on the platform of the train station. That final moment was too picture-perfect, staged almost. The steam of the train bellowed up from behind her and then hugged her into it until all I could see was her faint silhouette. She waved goodbye, or that is what I try to remember. The steam was thick and the sky was grey. Her bright red gloves were not even visible through that steam.

I remember when I bought her those gloves. Cherry red. Sophie’s colour. She can wear any colour and shine but there is something about that cherry red. When she wears it, no matter if it’s on her lips or her feet, hell even her lingerie, she carries herself differently, more confidently … no, more sensually, that makes even the heaviest traffic stop for her.
Oh my dearest Sophie. How I miss you. I miss the soft tendrils of your chocolate coloured hair. I miss caressing your face with the tips of my fingers, outlining your nose, check bones and your beautiful pouting lips. Those lips, as sweet as candy and as soft as flower petals.

I take a break from typing and smell the air. I’m thinking of you and wishing so badly that I could remember your scent. Instead all I can smell is the kerosene from this lantern and ink from my Caligraph. My heart is twisting, sinking, pounding and all I want is for it to be still. I have never known what it is like for my heart to beat outside my body until that day at the train station. The day you disappeared into the steam.