Unstrung
So now, I've got it straight.
(too late)
It was fine for me,
to be the puppet,
hanging on your dangling lines,
but in your mind,
there were no strings
attached.
I thought we made a good
match—
you were irresistibly
drawn to my weak spine;
I pandered to your
Masochistic moods.
Who was it, in your history,
left you, needing to be
patched up, like a
well-worn stuffed toy?
Is that why, the Master
found his greatest joy
in destroying me?
Kat Mortensen©2012
*As the last poem, "Was Home" left some of you wondering if I am a happy person, let me assure you that I am indeed a very happy person and very little of what I write (apart from things which touch on faith) has anything to do with me personally. They are merely the figments of my imagination coalescing into something approaching a reality. Having said that, "Was Home" was all very true.
This poem is the result of the Thursday Think Tank prompt at Poets United. Please visit the link to read further responses to the image below. Thank you.
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Hi Kat. You may not be writing from personal unhappiness in this one but it rings so true to many people's experiences that it can hardly matter. "Was Home" is a powerful poem and perhaps the felt experience behind it makes a difference in the tone, but your imagination does you credit.
ReplyDeleteThanks for saying that, Mairi. I must admit that a little bit of personal experience goes into the mix, but then I take it to extreme. Sadly, the extreme is the truth for some.
ReplyDeleteI appreciate your attention to "Was Home".
Was just watching a Youtube video of the magnificent Patrick Stewart talking about his childhood and domestic violence. This is a powerful write, Kat, and all too real for too many women. Wow.
ReplyDeleteIt was the image that did it for me - those dangling strings. Thanks, Michael.
DeletePowerful and it pulls one in! We all have a few moments of being strung, until we detach and break the tangles free! I'm glad it wasn't personal for you!
ReplyDeleteYes, Ella, we certainly do. I've had my own entanglements, but been able to cut the strings.
DeleteThanks for reading.
Wow, that is one powerful ending! What a question to leave dangling over such a fine poem? Brilliantly conceived, I love it.
ReplyDeleteThank you, Dave! Funny how the images can often just spur us on to release the words onto the page, isn't it?
DeleteJust a note: I will often sign onto my laptop in the morning to check my blogs, but for some reason I am not able to comment (respond) on Blogger when I'm on the laptop. I have often composed responses to your comments only to find that I can't get them to post.
ReplyDeleteOf course, then I go away and do something else and when I have signed on to my desktop computer I don't always remember to come back and respond as I had intended. I apologize for this. The curse of a mid-life brain!
I've done similar things myself, sometimes. When you're writing poetry people assume there's something deep and autobiographical going on when in fact you're writing fiction; and why shouldn't poetry be fictional, just as prose often is?
ReplyDeleteExactly. It's creating character and situations that are not necessarily anything to do with you personally. I am reluctant to post stuff like this without a disclaimer because I don't want people to think I'm this dark, unhappy individual. I'm anything but!
DeleteThat second stanza ~~ speaks volumes! This prompt spoke to me as well.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Helen! On my way over now ...
ReplyDeleteI've seen those kind of relationships before, you really catch it well in your words. The poem layout is excellent, and reading it aloud, it comes off really well -- smarting at the end.
ReplyDeleteWell done!
Thanks for the thorough read and the comment, Matt! Oh, and I see you're following now too. I look forward to interacting with you here.
DeleteNicely captured images and emotions. Glad they are not based on experience. Well, OK, they are but not on first hand experience.
ReplyDeleteThanks, J Cosmo! I appreciate your comment very much.
DeleteI like the question: who made it necessary for you to need to be patched up like a stuffed toy? Good one. There are so many people like this. Great write!
ReplyDeleteWell, I think that question is a sign, not of resignation, but of fighting back, and recognizing the problem. It also lends a little bit of sympathy, or at least acknowledgement of the root cause.
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