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Contributor Series 5: Dramatis Personae, untitled


06.08.10 Posted in Contributor Series 5, words to linger on by

Contributor Series 5: Dramatis Personae

untitled
By BR Belletryst

I.
Bottle fed from Mother Goose’s pinion;
I romped in Dahl’s and Seuss’ playground.

Frequent trips to libraries for paper
hugs from literary friends

Matilda, Stargirl,
Julie and her wolves,

I grew up with Brian Robeson,
and shrunk again with Alice’s potion.

II.
Then fed with fire from Bradbury, Poe,
Dickinson, and Frost,

I broke down with Plath, cried
for Algernon, and grew jaded with Orwell.

In midst of depression with Zooey and Frannie,
Cisneros whispered to me:

“You must always keep writing,
it will keep you free.”

And just like Esperanza,
I didn’t understand.

III. 
I fed on voices.
Shelley, Wilde, Byron, etc.

Until one day, with pen and paper,
All I could think were echoes.

IV.
Whispers once soothing seemed
claustrophobic.

I felt their inky arms in my chest,
grasping along my spine, entombing me.

My paper family, so close,
I became origami.

V.
Their dry rustlings, their musings
and fussings.

Mashing fingers on keys,
scratching pen on paper, marker on arm.

Impassioned scribbling, maddened
and unhearing, I stormed.

I wrote, and understood.
In writing, all other voices were silenced.

VI.
Their page-built arms rocketed me forward,
tossed me into the air just as

the first scream, the first echo
of a newborn in the world,

passed from my body to the page,
and melded with their clouds of breathy echoes.


BR Belletryst’s poetry (Idle ChatterA Cactus Grows in the DesertThe Philosophy of Math) appeared at vox poetica in 2010.



4 Responses to “Contributor Series 5: Dramatis Personae, untitled”

  1. Jessie Carty says:

    I LOVE all of the references you have in here. Although I still don’t know how I missed out on reading Stargirl 🙂

  2. Thank you for the feedback, I tried for just that.

    -hug!-

  3. Hehe, thanks, Jessie; I loved dredging up old literary selves and explorations for this. Stargirl and the sequel, Love, Stargirl, are two of my absolute favorite books. The second probably just a little higher on the list.

    -hugs!-

  4. Moralbine says:

    Cool:) You could say it exploded my brain! 🙂

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