I ... entered the poem of life, whose purpose is ... simply to witness the beauties of the world, to discover the many forms that love can take. (Barabara Blackman in 'Glass After Glass')

These poems are works in progress and may be updated without notice. Nevertheless copyright applies to all writings here and all photos (which are either my own or used with permission). Thank you for your comments. I read and appreciate them all, and reply here to specific points that seem to need it — or as I have the leisure. Otherwise I reciprocate by reading and commenting on your blog posts as much as possible.

8 December 2014

Alice Afterwards

It’s such a fine day, she thinks,
as she saunters down the path to her gate —
a late morning after
her fine night painting the town
red and other colours.

The adventure of escape
no longer leads through rabbit holes
or mirrors. Now she needs
more control, can’t leave the kids
for unpredictable lengths of time.

But if anyone ever had cause
to become an artist — all
the bizarre and beautiful
things she’s seen….
So she slips out at night.

While husband and children snore,
she’s away with her spray cans.
Her signature, Lice,
is so obvious if you know.
But no-one knows.

The slight figure, like others,
is hooded in the dark. She is still
slim and small enough to pass
for a teen, a boy. They never talk
if they even meet. It’s a solitary thing.

She’s fond of solitude now,
having all those offspring and him
in the busy days. She likes her space,
in those silent hours when even
drunks and the homeless are asleep.

She needs no potion these days 
to be tall as a tower, tiny as a flower;
no smiling demonstrations
of a disappearing act. She has her own
magic, dispelling walls.

At 'imaginary garden with real toads' last Friday, Fireblossom asked people to write mash-ups, putting someone famous in a new and different situation. I only just discovered this prompt, a few days late, and it caught my imagination.


7 comments:

  1. I like your twist on this, Rosemary...interesting alternate. :)

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  2. She would have been glad to be positively transformed. No more surprises nor feelings of despair and getting into trying times! Great lines Rosemary!

    Hank

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    1. Ha ha, yes — she might risk arrest, but not losing her head. Thanks, hank.

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  3. 'The adventure of escape
    no longer leads through rabbit holes
    or mirrors. ' and 'She has her own
    magic, dispelling walls.' ~ took my attention. How we all need a space to converse the public life to our inner and opposite, just to find 'our space' to breathe...

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    1. Yes, even fantasies point to truths. It's long since I was a busy young mother but I remember it well.

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  4. You worked my challenge to perfection. I apologize for being so very long in commenting; I've been quite ill. Alice is one of my favorite characters from literature, and the twist you've given her here is perfectly drawn!

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    Replies
    1. Oh, thank you! I am delighted to receive this comment at any time . Sorry you have been ill; glad you have, evidently, recovered at least somewhat.

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