deepundergroundpoetry.com
Lovely Corpse
“Every writer would come along with ideas, someone always suggested a character get raped. I said, ‘The thing is, that character’s already been raped.’ There was this big silence, and my boss said, “When was she last raped?” Sexual violence, violence against women, was the go-to for creating any drama. And it went on the quote wall: ‘When was she last raped?’” - From Line of Duty to The Fall: why can’t TV shows stop killing women? (Zoe Williams, The Guardian, 2021)
“Prepare your bosom for his knife.”
That’s Shakespeare, that.
Can’t argue there.
And what if it ain’t a bosom but
a heaving pair of tits
below a stanley knife?
That’s politics, that’s art.
I don’t make the world, you see,
all I do is reflect.
A big mirror outside
a yard of women’s bones.
How long’s it been since she’s been raped?
Dialogue is dialogue,
but nout can get ‘em gandering
like streaks of mascara,
a lonely walk at night,
high heels clicking on the street
as our boy closes in.
We’ll need to frame her right,
come the grey morning as cops
surround her lovely corpse.
Put her in that copse over there.
Rip her shirt just right.
Film it through the bars.
A body in a cage.
(Visual metaphor, that is,
all the greats use it.)
She’s ready for TV.
Across the country,
she’s a star,
until the next one comes along
to make our hero weep.
It’s drama and it’s always been the way.
I’m just a big mirror.
“Prepare your bosom for his knife.”
That’s Shakespeare, that.
Can’t argue there.
And what if it ain’t a bosom but
a heaving pair of tits
below a stanley knife?
That’s politics, that’s art.
I don’t make the world, you see,
all I do is reflect.
A big mirror outside
a yard of women’s bones.
How long’s it been since she’s been raped?
Dialogue is dialogue,
but nout can get ‘em gandering
like streaks of mascara,
a lonely walk at night,
high heels clicking on the street
as our boy closes in.
We’ll need to frame her right,
come the grey morning as cops
surround her lovely corpse.
Put her in that copse over there.
Rip her shirt just right.
Film it through the bars.
A body in a cage.
(Visual metaphor, that is,
all the greats use it.)
She’s ready for TV.
Across the country,
she’s a star,
until the next one comes along
to make our hero weep.
It’s drama and it’s always been the way.
I’m just a big mirror.
Published 19th Mar 2021
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comments 4
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19th Mar 2021 11:56pm
Fucking hell, this could not have been more apropos in light of what just happened in America, Jack.
I have read this twice; it's bloody brilliant, and I honestly can't suggest anything in regards to edits. The ONLY place I really had to go back and read was this:
I don’t make the world, you see,
all I do is reflect.
A big mirror outside
a yard of women’s bones.
I think the latter two lines should be connected to the former two with a semi, em dash, or something along those lines. Hell even a colon would probably work there.
I have read this twice; it's bloody brilliant, and I honestly can't suggest anything in regards to edits. The ONLY place I really had to go back and read was this:
I don’t make the world, you see,
all I do is reflect.
A big mirror outside
a yard of women’s bones.
I think the latter two lines should be connected to the former two with a semi, em dash, or something along those lines. Hell even a colon would probably work there.
20th Mar 2021 2:13am
Like this?
“I don’t make the world, you see,
all I do is reflect; a big mirror outside
a yard of women’s bones.”
Thank you for your kind comment. The poem (and the article quoted) were written in the wake of a recent murder in London, where a woman was abducted and killed by a police officer while walking home at night.
As to the Atlanta killings, I saw a truly disgusting piece on that yesterday which argued that the killer was “fighting temptation” by targeting a massage parlour. A positive, though: for once (though it might be too early to say) the coverage I’ve seen hasn’t talked up the killer too much, giving him a high profile. I still don’t know his name, though that’s partly because I refuse to learn it.
“I don’t make the world, you see,
all I do is reflect; a big mirror outside
a yard of women’s bones.”
Thank you for your kind comment. The poem (and the article quoted) were written in the wake of a recent murder in London, where a woman was abducted and killed by a police officer while walking home at night.
As to the Atlanta killings, I saw a truly disgusting piece on that yesterday which argued that the killer was “fighting temptation” by targeting a massage parlour. A positive, though: for once (though it might be too early to say) the coverage I’ve seen hasn’t talked up the killer too much, giving him a high profile. I still don’t know his name, though that’s partly because I refuse to learn it.
20th Mar 2021 3:49pm
Yes! much better flow to that. The former felt disconnected and I had to re-read it in order to grasp what you were saying.
I read about that incident; it's horrid what people in power, particularly men, wield against women. The more the divine feminine rises, the more violence against her we'll see. Until, that is, she rises above their reach.
I read about that incident; it's horrid what people in power, particularly men, wield against women. The more the divine feminine rises, the more violence against her we'll see. Until, that is, she rises above their reach.
20th Mar 2021 7:44am
