VI
UNFURROWED BROWS
Especially young ones
Where naïve impassioned pleas
Threats and sounds seem
Attractive from beneath the smoothness
Of skin naturally taut
The flipside is an accurséd existence
Offering only contradictory visage
To the jaded views beneath
Perhaps the intention contains beauty
But is lost in the distance
Between eye and ear
We have both passed on
Gentle soft unfurrowed beauty
Neither of us have fought the
Inevitability of decay
Of cracks of crevasses
Instead choosing
To acquire different membership
VII
THE SPACE
The one on the carpet
In front of the television
Next ‘the bed
In amongst the clipping of skin
And the stinky stuff
That lives in the black fluff
Collecting
Because without it
Where is the evidence of
Comfort in my presence?
VIII
YOUR STRANGE OBSESSIONS
After several nights of reading an
Old book entitled
A PSYCHIATRIC STUDY
OF MYTHS AND FAIRY TALES
I watched you rehearse the characters
Due to join us in our adventure
No longer were instinctual drives
Represented by howling dogs
You installed a capuchin to keep watch,
Be alert and let us know when we
Displayed them
No longer would you fill our
Bedchamber with talismen
Preventing attacks from crocs or
Secret poisoners
Instead, you set fire beneath a cauldron
And began your apprenticeship
Prelogic no longer decorated the
Bathroom for the mural had grown wings
Now, I can feel a third eye developing, itching
Annoying me with its insistence to blink
You built a separate exit to enter
The underworld and like Bluebeard
Forbade my entry. How I ached
To peer beyond. In fact, I
Had to remind myself that this had to be
A setup for failure
For loss and redemption
I have locked my hands to the bedroom door
Preventing my hands from turning
Preventing this mind from learning
When I noticed a red cape upon the bed,
In my size last Tuesday
I forgot to tell you
But I gave it to the gardener
He says his wife likes to pretend
And I was just worried you’d devour me
I have found 6 little pieces of paper
With tasks written upon them
And I’m doing my best to file them
It may take me some time
To complete… as I know there’s more out there
For me to do
For you.
After several nights of reading an
Old book entitled
A PSYCHIATRIC STUDY
OF MYTHS AND FAIRY TALES
Do you mind if I add a few names
And twists to the mix?
Text: © J. L. Nash, 2010
Images: © Sally Mann
