| Bakkhos (or Modern Day Maenad) If only I could rip Open my heart and tear Out the seeds of anger which grow thorns and slash Through all my veins, a menace that could smash The life blood from a helpless body would hurl Itself upon my surroundings and drop, In a huge red burst this terror would drop, Devouring my home with the rip Of gnashing teeth. In blood frenzy it would hurl From my window and tear Into the earth outside my door with a smash Of thunder as it fell. Next it would slash, With wine-dipped claws it would slash, Through happy, neon joggers on the street, who would drop Mid-stride caught in terror under the heavy smash Of this monster which would rip Through their flesh and tear Out their hearts and hurl, Those poor, once-happy people it would hurl, To death with the slash Of wine-frenzied blows. Gaining fury, it would tear, With lightening strides, down the street and drop, Planting its glorious self in the lap of society, and with a rip Unmask the whole as strange parts. Then it would smash, To useless shards it would smash, This mask of decorum that covers them up. Then it would hurl The pieces through the air with a rip Followed by a body of lies dismembered with the slash Of base, volatile claws that drop Through to the center of the pack and tear Out real people. It would tear Off the candy-coated exteriors and smash The glitzy gadgets. Then, tired, it would drop To red earth and in ecstatic joy it would hurl Back its head in a triumphant yelp that would slash Open the heavens leaving a black gaping rip. Instead, the menace drops through my own blood to hurl Its smashing blow against my skull, leaving a slash. My consolation is a salty tear caressing my mind's black gaping rip.© 1997 wendi loomis "Reflection in Fragments" |