Playing Dead Before the Ball
I lie in the corpse pose
while church bells ring
clutching my emotions like a bouquet
Confidence wilts as I wait to meet destiny
Doubt is a minefield of thorns
A train on tracks seems never ending
Box cars pass like a life review
Whether happily-ever-after
or a struggle uphill
the end of their line is inevitable
I’m sorry that my hands shake
when I fall in love or fall from grace
that my body is a dead weight
that won’t stay buried
Now the hour is closing in
like it did for Cinderella
I know the shoe fits
and that the future is your prince
Tonight we will dance
Knowing love made its impression
like rippling circles
repeating and spreading
But they fade as they widen
like a child’s forgotten smile
A fairy godmother arrives at the ball
She goes home alone at midnight
_______Colleen Redman / Poets United / Imaginary Gardens with Real Toads
September 30th, 2018 8:30 am
I so enjoyed reading this poem, where the fairy godmother attends the ball and goes home alone at midnight. Love “the future is your prince”. Such a cool poem!
September 30th, 2018 9:03 am
Do poets every apologize for what they write, be it happy or sad or somewhere in between?
A powerful poem this is! Thank you for writing it.
September 30th, 2018 9:50 am
I don’t think a poet should ever apologize for not writing ‘pretty poetry.’ I would rather have poetry with a sense of realness any day. Interesting that the fairy godmother attended the ball and went home alone at midnight. Seemed even the fairy godmother could not work magic with her own life. A thought provoker!
September 30th, 2018 11:36 am
Don’t ever apologise for the poems which flow directly out from the heart… this one touched mine ❤❤❤
September 30th, 2018 11:43 am
I just read the poem to my husband and he noted the “unapologetic apology,” which it is.
September 30th, 2018 11:59 am
No apology needed… it’s the reason and purpose that counts. To lie in the corpse position waiting really make me feel the fear we all feel for the prince our future.
September 30th, 2018 2:52 pm
Such a combination of Cinderella and the Sleeping Beauty! Who else lies in “corpse pose”–maybe Snow White? But the hinge is the poet raising her head, relating to the stories and de-romanticizing the archetypes. I love the entire poem, but especially this:
“I apologize for rarely writing pretty poetry
or if I used my poetic license too freely
I’m sorry that my hands shake
when I fall in love or fall from grace
that my body is a dead weight
that won’t stay buried …”
O My! O my! O my! Don’t be sorry! Forgiveness and love abound! Thank you for this poem!
September 30th, 2018 3:27 pm
For me, from the opening quote to the image of ripples, this poem gave me a sense of suspension, of fair tale drift.
September 30th, 2018 4:03 pm
An interesting juxtaposition of Cinderella and sleeping beauty …no apology is ever needed by a writer
September 30th, 2018 4:15 pm
Grace, indeed, well writ. Thank you. This speaks to everyone, doesn’t it.
September 30th, 2018 5:17 pm
A dark and creative mood. so well expressed.
ZQ
September 30th, 2018 11:10 pm
oh there is no “pretty poetry”… poetry just is…the reader thinks it is pretty sometimes depending on their mood!!! Or doesn’t…much like the fairy godmother.. the reader goes home alone!!
October 1st, 2018 5:49 pm
I think it’s our job to write truth (even when couched in fiction) – and that’s not always pretty! This poem, though, is beautiful.
October 2nd, 2018 5:00 am
there’s no need to apologize, Colleen. Your poetry is very real and relatable. and the truth is not always pretty. As in this poem, it seems a bit dark, but it is a beautiful work, as it shows the tension and fears that one is experiencing, and that’s why i liked it, for its imagery and emotions.
Thanks for sharing it. 🙂
October 2nd, 2018 9:38 am
Church bells ring as I lie in the corpse pose
Holding my emotions like a bouquet..
What an excellent poetic image!
October 2nd, 2018 10:53 am
yep. you sure can write ’em, CR. Love everything from the morning sleepy corpse to the diminishing ripplecircles. Salute!
October 2nd, 2018 11:39 am
Oh, the title sets the mood for this self-realizing verse — I love how you create the idea of love and its different facets through the fairy tale metaphor and your own divergence from it in your expression. The ending of it all is inevitable.
I really loved this bit: “Knowing love made its impression/like rippling circles/repeating and spreading/But they fade as they widen
like a child’s smile forgotten”.
October 2nd, 2018 2:00 pm
Sometimes we don’t need pretty. We need honest too. I really like the phrase “my body is a dead weight/ that won’t stay buried”.
October 2nd, 2018 3:04 pm
This is a new favorite for me of yours Colleen!!
October 2nd, 2018 3:49 pm
Love your take on the fairy tale theme.
October 2nd, 2018 4:28 pm
Not all fairy tales are to be usurped and bastardized (I was going to accidentally type baptized – and perhaps it would be more appropriate for what follows) by Disney.
Life isn’t about glossing over the truths, or refusing to look deeper into shadows and darkness. Sometimes one needs a meat cleaver to get to the light … and find peace in the process. Or at least some semblance of sanity.
And if this process has been undertaken with integrity, and the results are what they are, and are then presented respectfully, then why apologize?
We live in a world where it’s no longer permissible or even “correct” to say much of anything lest we unintentionally or accidentally offend someone else – or worse yet, we rationalize it by saying it’s not “karma correct right thinking being” – and yet suppression is as equally dangerous as outright tyranny.
It’s all rather insane. I guess, it all comes down to which crazy train one chooses to ride …
I like how you’ve rewritten and worked these fairy tales and offered a new alternate ending… one that at least, offers a solid sense of self. And maybe that’s just the right story to consider in these troubled and troubling times.
October 2nd, 2018 7:48 pm
What a strong yet beautiful poem this is. I don’t think a poet should ever apologize for their work as you are merely creating images in your mind and then translating them into verse. I thoroughly enjoyed this work and praise you for it.
October 3rd, 2018 3:53 pm
Wow! This is raw and truly a masterpiece in the making. I think you are one of my favorite poets and I have known you all my life. xo
October 3rd, 2018 4:27 pm
Thanks, She. Doesn’t it remind you a bit of your old clown/pies poem?