it is not his words solely
but the way he spits them to her face -
hiss of the blade, sharp upper cut
that makes her cringe like a
disemboweled rotting pumpkin -
scalp torn open, carved bleak
candles all melted inside-
she slowly stirs the pot
kitchen is messy of peelings,
seeds & sweet golden pears
& rich coconut cream-
she once was like this - cream
puffed, silver-glass slippered girl,
riding a carriage made out of pumpkins-
now, she feels trapped under a lantern's
ghostly smile & empty
of autumn's colors,
she scoops red chili paste
slowly staining the yellow puree
hiding the tears crawling down her chin
like ants, crimson as her hands
breaking into leaves,
soundless, the arc of a falling knife
Posted for D'verse Poets Pub - Talking about pumpkins and/or issues - Happy Saturday ~
oh dang - that falling knife in the close... heavy emotions in this... it's tough when the prince of dreams develops into a violent (ok won't say that word..) ugh.. love how you packed this into the kitchen scene with all the tastes and scents as well... the spit words into her face..the pain.. so palpable..
ReplyDeletetrapped under the lanterns smile...shivers...def easy for things to change...and one minute you are in a fairy tale...and the next it much darker and in that moment we have no idea how it got so far from the other...
ReplyDeleteOh, wow, Grace... how sad and powerful. I like the symbolism of from a pumpkin carriage to pumpkin soup.
ReplyDeletewhoof! raw punches to the gut with all the pumpkins here--the rotten one and the peeled ones and jack o'lantern and cinderella's--blade in the beginning and again at the end...about when the headless horseman should be disappearing out the door ... I love the tears like ants
ReplyDeleteWhew, what a sad commentary on this relationship. A very subtle, meaningful write, Grace.
ReplyDeleteGrace - not the ending to the fairy tale we imagine - the last line gave me shivers - wow - K
ReplyDeleteYuck - I don't think I'll have any of that menacing soup if you don't mind :-)
ReplyDeletePowerful feelings powerfully expressed.
Gorgeous, Grace. We both played with Cinderella today, and neither of them happy...
ReplyDeleteCinderella should always have glass slippers and a carriage... words can be weapons... very emotional poem...
ReplyDeleteThis is very creative and emotionally engaging, a stellar response to the prompt.
ReplyDeleteStark social realism.. and so sad.. the imagery of tears like ants crawling.. and at the same time weaving in a recipe for a yummy soup.. very creative.
ReplyDeleteWow...excellent. Powerful...real...too real.
ReplyDeleteSad and filled with powerful emotions..hiding the tears crawling down her chin..
ReplyDeleteVery clever after the ball peek into their lives...sad but sometimes true. The prince is really a bully in tinfoil.
ReplyDeletePumpkins bound in a different way, taken to heart, sad indeed
ReplyDeletereally amazing! Grace
ReplyDeletewonderful Grace!
ReplyDeleteI love the imagery and metaphors here. This is great use of of the pumpkin prompt.
ReplyDeleteThis makes the violence feel very real-- agh. Thanks, Grace. k.
ReplyDeleteI dislike overusing this word but WOW!
ReplyDeleteOh my goodness, you can't always judge a soup by it's poem's beginning! Yikes....and I actually spent a good part of the late afternoon, going through my pumpkin soup recipes!
ReplyDeleteAptly accurate progression Grace! Wonderful in the beginning and turned sour or even violent later. Things can change that drastically. It's only human but still a human tragedy! Brilliant description Ma'am!
ReplyDeleteHank!
in its entirety, powerful, each verse drawing out an ache, balancing on the excruciating twist of the fairy tale. a marvelous write, Grace ~ M
ReplyDeleteFrom soup to seeds, from blade to barb to the tears of tarantulas, the angst of ants, putting cocoanut in the soup, stirring the pumpkin metaphors with a chef's spoon & poet's tongue; loved it, licked it, slurped it; thanks.
ReplyDeleteOh, this is divine. I felt it all. Thank you.
ReplyDeleteOh damn, this is a fractured fairy tale! I too went with Cinderella!
ReplyDeleteFun Grace, so many great lines!
Dexter would be proud ;D
I love it
Very emotional. Oh, how you turned the fairy tale on its head! somehow, I have the feeling that she should not be holding that knife I while in this state. :-)
ReplyDeleteI didn't see violence. I saw trapped and a release/
ReplyDeleteDark, powerful with more than a handful of emotion. You stir that pot well.
ReplyDelete