deepundergroundpoetry.com
Finger Painting
for P
We finger painted all afternoon.
It was lovely, innocent,
our fingers like daubs
on an artist’s palette.
Joy like that
cannot be brought back.
Tell his parents I’m sorry,
but now they’ll never see, at least,
their boy grow up and ugly
in that way
that all boys do, one day.
His innocence will never be
enlightened by society,
and made to flee
the watches of the day,
as wrought in masculinity.
He’ll never sit beside
a woman on a train
and stroke her inner thigh.
He’ll never hate his own daughter.
He won’t enforce, perpetuate,
the truth that men to slaughter
made are natural as love, and hate.
He’ll always be a boy.
Six years old and curly-haired,
finger-painting sparrows in the trees.
We finger painted all afternoon.
It was lovely, innocent,
our fingers like daubs
on an artist’s palette.
Joy like that
cannot be brought back.
Tell his parents I’m sorry,
but now they’ll never see, at least,
their boy grow up and ugly
in that way
that all boys do, one day.
His innocence will never be
enlightened by society,
and made to flee
the watches of the day,
as wrought in masculinity.
He’ll never sit beside
a woman on a train
and stroke her inner thigh.
He’ll never hate his own daughter.
He won’t enforce, perpetuate,
the truth that men to slaughter
made are natural as love, and hate.
He’ll always be a boy.
Six years old and curly-haired,
finger-painting sparrows in the trees.
Published 6th Sep 2021
Author's Note
The idea for this poem was taken from another writer’s entry to a contest on this site, years ago. Both writer, entry, and contest are long gone, but based on my recollection, the contest was to write a poem from the perspective of a murderer. The original poem was about a man who kills a child out of twisted “mercy”, to spare him the horrors of existence.
My version is about a nanny who kills the boy in her care so as to prevent what she sees as the inevitable spoiling of his innocence, in a toxically masculine society. The motif shared by the two poems is finger painting.
My version is about a nanny who kills the boy in her care so as to prevent what she sees as the inevitable spoiling of his innocence, in a toxically masculine society. The motif shared by the two poems is finger painting.
All writing remains the property of the author. Don't use it for any purpose without their permission.
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comments 4
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The author encourages honest critique.
7th Sep 2021 00:27am
the horror of moving from innocence to guilt is the horror of it being called “growing up”
7th Sep 2021 8:49am
A haunting poem...
There's much to enjoy about this--there's a sense of dis-ease, that's subtle in the 1st stanza, and then becomes more pronounced in the 2nd.
I like the self-justifying insanity--psychosis, psychopathy--in the 2nd stanza. This is the voice of a murderer of children justifying her brutality, and moralizing to the parents--via the police, I assume--of the the child she just killed in cold blood.
The sane reader should feel his blood run cold.
The last 5 lines of the 2nd stanza, and the last 3 lines of the 3rd stanza, are both beautifully wrought--
This is first and foremost a persona poem, written in the voice of a psychopathic monster--a child murderer. Ultimately, its effectiveness will be dependent upon your ability to get inside the voice of Evil, and there's quite a bit here that's working toward that point.
Big like!
There's much to enjoy about this--there's a sense of dis-ease, that's subtle in the 1st stanza, and then becomes more pronounced in the 2nd.
I like the self-justifying insanity--psychosis, psychopathy--in the 2nd stanza. This is the voice of a murderer of children justifying her brutality, and moralizing to the parents--via the police, I assume--of the the child she just killed in cold blood.
The sane reader should feel his blood run cold.
The last 5 lines of the 2nd stanza, and the last 3 lines of the 3rd stanza, are both beautifully wrought--
This is first and foremost a persona poem, written in the voice of a psychopathic monster--a child murderer. Ultimately, its effectiveness will be dependent upon your ability to get inside the voice of Evil, and there's quite a bit here that's working toward that point.
Big like!
7th Sep 2021 12:04pm
Thank you for your kind and thoughtful response. I used to write a lot of persona poems from extreme perspectives - murderers, bigots, religious fanatics - few of which were any good. I’m glad that this one came across.
7th Sep 2021 5:28pm
This is indeed haunting. The progression builds sympathy at first, followed by mixed emotions ensuing the apology. I felt a sense of righteous indignity to this as I read on. Haunting.
