She descends
a beehive strangling
a beehive strangling
the air
Looking for her tarts
3 cranberry pies or was it stones
Her hands pluck mercilessly
cake pieces away from our plates
Tea cups shake as
her words reduce men to frogs
witless, shrunk peas
She is The Red Queen
filled with venom laced passion for a crown
To keep atop bouffant head
Inflamed by dry season, she orders be-
heading of flowers
Unsmiling, crooked
shadows pall over advent bright table
Under constricted neck
Her head swells larger than blue whale
Her head swells larger than blue whale
She breeds foes
from her inward suspicious mind
from her inward suspicious mind
But unmasked, an imposter of hearts
Small as pitted seed, a crone than Queen
Eyes glinting mad
she waits for my fingers
to snap
she waits for my fingers
to snap
Process Notes: This is inspired by a real character in our office who tried to unsuccessfully discredit my work record on Friday to our managers. She gathered all my files "of mistakes" which were actually minor errors due to the sheer volume of work I do. After getting all the information, management sided with me and deemed her attitude and actions not conducive to team spirit & accomplishing our goals. All I can say is if your heart is full of evil thoughts and negative energy, it backfires on you.
Posted for D'verse Poets Pub: Alice or Advent - Thanks for the visit ~ Happy weekend !
ugh...that is terrible if a colleague at work does such a thing... and i'm glad that it turned out well for you... cool bridge to the red queen as well... yeah...if someone does evil things and oppresses others it may work for a certain time but finally there will be justice and they get what they deserve
ReplyDeleteI'm happy it turned out well for me ~ Thanks Claudia ~
DeleteYou have created quite a character study here, Grace. I hope there are not too many venomous "Red Queens" at this season (or any season) of the year. I am glad that the person who tried to discredit was discredited herself, that she got her due!
ReplyDeleteHopefully no more like her but I'm watching my back ~ Thanks Mary ~
DeleteSome people are frighteningly evil. Great portrait of another Red Queen! Pity this one exists.
ReplyDeleteI think some have small minds ~ Thanks Gabriella ~
Deleteugh...i say off with her head....i hate it when i have to work with people like that...you know you have to watch them cause they know their way to the top is to take out the rest...wether real or make believe....i am glad management saw through her attempt...
ReplyDeleteYes, off with her head ~ I think it helped that I was honest about my mistakes, not being perfect but always striving to do my best ~ Thanks Brian ~
DeleteThat's what I sometimes hate at the workplace.. so good the managers sided with you.. how good to paint her as a the bloated red queen...
ReplyDeleteI thought the character was perfect ~ Thanks Bjorn ~
DeletePeople like that make me so very angry - I am so glad that right was on your side. A great poem, and by the sound of it, a perfect comparison. I loved Tim Burton's work - but then I can't think of a film of his that I haven't enjoyed!
ReplyDeleteHis work is very creative & surreal even ~ Thanks Freya ~
DeleteI prefer the Red Queen in the sequel THROUGH THE LOOKING GLASS, so much more civil; almost sweet; that's where I went, to the mirror & beyond with my piece today. Your postscript brings to mind the life-long struggle I had with envious co-workers who shot themselves both in the foot, & wounded me deeply as well; nice to be retired now, and out of the darkness of competition & meanness.
ReplyDeleteI got the same inspiration from the movie too ~ Thanks Glenn ~
DeleteI love this, love Alice, the bunny and love Tea time, .about. the . queen Im not sure!!lol
ReplyDeleteLove the tea time ~ Thanks Gloria ~
DeleteGrace, love the lines 'She breeds foes / from her inward suspicious mind' how perspicacious ;)
ReplyDeleteYou turned her into a gorgeous baddie.
ReplyDeleteSo you're the one controlling the red queen. Well, you've portrayed her persona quite well! She's madder than the March hare.
ReplyDeleteyou got your point across through the prompt quite well... some thought went into this...
ReplyDeleteBlah to those nuts, trying to ruin you and kiss the bosses butt. Off with their head made their own bed
ReplyDeleteI've worked with her! :O :) remarkably written :)
ReplyDeleteShe punished herself....now her erring soul.....crying....but you, Grace went through all this hell ~ now you...stronger! ~ cool characteristic for the Red Queen too. I love this movie! :)xx ~ Much Love <3
ReplyDeletegood grief - so sorry you had that experience - always shocks me when people can be that awful - you give a wonderful expression of the feeling in your poem - K
ReplyDeleteFirstly what a brilliant poem. Will read it a few times.
ReplyDeleteSecondly how lucky you are that management sided with you, even though it was obvious that they should.
Remember you are posing a threat to this person You are without doubt intelligent and highly literate. This seems to be enough these days to pose a threat. Hope you get a promotion and you do have rights. Documentation documentation documentation= evidence! The work place needs intelligence and literary skills.such as yours.Do not let evil triumph! Thank the dear Lord, for enabling me to work for myself. Good luck Grace..Thanks for reminding me....I have lived that nightmare zone you are in.
Thank you for the support and encouragement ~ I was actually surprised by the decision but my work record speaks for itself ~ Lucky for you to work for yourself ~ Blessings for a lovely and meaningful season to you ~
DeleteGood for you I say, lovely poem and you are a good example of a a team player, faults yes, but assets far weighing all all the negative.
ReplyDeleteSnap your fingers and retort back with a sneer, 'Off with her Head' You be the Queen and knock her off her perch. Otherwise let them be! Others will eventually do her in! Nicely Grace!
ReplyDeleteHank
There is a Red Queen at my partners work, he named her for every chance she gets it's off with their heads- usually for her mistakes… nicely captured Grace
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDelete..."she waits for my fingers to snap", sure, I know that woman too, but I ignore her and the more I ignore her the more aggressive she becomes. Envy, that's all. She breeds foes, of course! Well, at least she inspired you a powerful piece of writing. I am sure they were stones, not pies!
ReplyDeleteHappy Advent, Grace, and thanks for sharing.
oh, snap! drag that it happened, glad that it worked out ~
ReplyDeleteWhew! Snap! The red Queen is a character I love to hate. Thanks for the back story (sigh of relief--off with her head). I am so glad you are back, Grace. Hope the studies went very well.
ReplyDeleteThank you Susan ~ I should the results in 2 weeks ~
Delete..it seems there is an evil queen in every workplace or location thereof....it can make you miserable and hard to even go to work...good on you Grace ; )You were ready for this prompt and handled her perfectly
ReplyDeleteyour co-worker doesn't understand that 'blowing out some one else's candle doesn't make yours flicker any brighter'
ReplyDeleteyou handled that with 'grace'. :-)
Sometimes I just don't understand how people think! Glad that you're managers were able to see clearly as to who was right and who was wrong here! I'd imagine,though, that having to deal with this wasn't easy. Hopefully, writing about the situation helped clear away some of the hurt.
ReplyDeleteyou're so correct.
ReplyDeleteKarma plays it all aptly.
Justice is always done.
Horrible - I've known people like that and struggle to understand how they can be so twisted. Glad it worked out for you in the end. Beautiful day of reckoning through the medium of poetry!
ReplyDeleteSo so wrong of your coworker to do such a thing. Very sad actually. It's good that your bosses deemed her attitude unacceptable. I hope she learned a lesson here.
ReplyDeleteEverywhere there will be people like her - really loved your poem Grace, it's wonderful read - the comparison has brought out the character so well.
ReplyDeleteWe all have one of these in the workplace..striving to climb to the top no matter what...
ReplyDeletesorry you had to go through that, but it did inspire you
ReplyDeleteBravo the red queens defeat. Glad to see finally the good guys win one.
ReplyDeleteGod Bless you and it is an interesting metaphor.
great imagery. captures the surreal circus and scariness.
ReplyDeletealso glad that your team mates have good judgement and ignore such silliness =)