Inheritance

[heslopian]

the library windows,
tall and narrow like models, expose
the willow's diseased hands, and I sit here composing
a poem for you, my father's tragic wives.

I examine - like a young soldier
his fallen comrade's diaries, knowing that where they went,
and died, their limbs scattered across the sands,
he too will soon be sent -
my memories of you, a pair of mermaids with long hair,
hiding scales underneath your denim jeans,
black slacks, and pound shop skirts.
mother, you queen of the
pill cabinet,
Samantha, you toy of the
Frinton shore,
how did you meet the same dull man,
as solid and whole
as my mum's china clowns,
with a tongue mean and viscious
like an alcoholic's breath?

in detective stories I once read,
inheritance meant increased wealth;
men killed their families for dough,
but what could you give me?

plentiful disorder, yes, self-loathing,
rage, ego problems,
a penchant for lying, pointlessly, and an
obsession with sex.

but whereas you were beautiful,
I seemed doomed to chastity
through my giant's appetite,
my pallid, mole-strewn flesh,
like a white mattress cover
left too long on the line,
so it accumulates mould
and much rain.

when I eat I come alive,
the taste of chicken, bread,
burgers, fried fish
and chips and chocolate cake,
monopolises
my senses, like love or death
or even joy, joy as plain
as a prom queen,
with her standard curls
and teenage breasts.

you two had prozac,
drink, and drugs, sex with men
and other vice, and I,
I have my gluttony, sewn to my breast
like a big scarlet "G."

inheritence will never die,
not when it lives inside our genes,
but how we deal with it changes
(though the outcome just doesn't,
I fear.)

[billy]

good strong poem (is it okay to call ya jack) heslopian.

some really good lines and imagery; way too many to mention.

L2 tall and narrow like models, expose ;

what a fantastic simile for a window.
there's many more in the poem but i wish i'd wrote this one.

this poem would be out of place on the printed page. extremely well done
thanks for the read.

[addy]

Your imagery is just excellent... you've got a real gift for language, with the skill and depth of someone writing for years. At points it's a rant poem, but your use of image stops it short of being overbearing.

I don't think the parentheses you put in your closing lines is at all necessary, though that's just me.

Great read!

[heslopian]

good strong poem (is it okay to call ya jack) heslopian.

some really good lines and imagery; way too many to mention.

L2 tall and narrow like models, expose ;

what a fantastic simile for a window.
there's many more in the poem but i wish i'd wrote this one.

this poem would be out of place on the printed page. extremely well done
thanks for the read.

Thanks for the kind words, Billy, and of course you can call me Jack!

---

Your imagery is just excellent... you've got a real gift for language, with the skill and depth of someone writing for years. At points it's a rant poem, but your use of image stops it short of being overbearing.

I don't think the parentheses you put in your closing lines is at all necessary, though that's just me.

Great read!

Thanks for the feedback and the kind words, addy Yeah, I'm not fond of that whole final stanza, really. I thought the poem needed a summation of what the point was, but it didn't turn out so well.

[billy]

thanks jack.
we have no limits on when you can post by the way
so feel free to post as often as you want.