Season 1, Episode 012: Masque Fairy Racing

Guilliean reads three of her poems; read along with the poems while you’re listening!

Masque

You buy clothes you never wear
To impress people who don't care
You can't speak in front of crowds
You should get your head checked
You have blisters on your heels
From shoes that refuse to be broken in
You wear makeup to even out your tan
Certainly not to impress a man
Your mirror reflection of self
Doesn't match the one inside
You sing songs of love and heartbreak
Because you cannot handle reality's handshake
From the jump, you push everyone away
To protect yourself from the inevitable day
When they will turn & walk a way
Because that's what they do
When they're done with you.
You wear so many masks
You forget which one
is for him, for her, for them.
Shattered self in shadows
Intertwine on your halo of thorns.
Be careful not to bleed everywhere.
Blood is hard to get out of the carpet.

A Fairy Tale

One of our in-class poetry prompts was translating a translated poem into our own words. I chose Salma Khadra Jayyusi’s A Tale.

I have no father-in-law
I'm sure he exists
He sleeps, fucks my mother-in-law
(Hopefully she's a nice lady and will treat me well)
He showers, and is a good Christian.

A good Christian is rare in this country
Hypocrites, the lot of them
God knows the cross I bear
Would make the Virgin Mary cry

Wonder how many brothers and sisters
He fathered before my husband
Natural, illegitimate, aborted.
My husband has a 50/50 chance
of mirroring my father-in-law
A hypocritical Christian
An honest atheist
A good father to his real kids
A bad musician in the car

Someone is playing a game
In the house that I grew up in
The house where I thought
A marriage would free me
My castle, my abode, the place
I thought I'd never leave
Pry the deed from my cold, dead hands
The house where AJ scratched my cheek

My people are maids
My people eat bratwurst
My people make wine
My people run with the bulls
My people dance with dragons
My people conceal carry in the dark.

Photo by Ally Griffin on Unsplash

Human Racing

Surviving is a verb
Living is too
Breathing, smelling, touching
Words that imply movement
I've not stopped moving
Since yesterday
Whenever that was.

 Wish I could stop time
The rat race
Aging
Death
Sex
Taxes

 Memento mori, Latin
'Remember you will die'
Keep that hubris in check
We're all born to die
A monied death
If you didn't buy it,
you're the product.

 Can't stop, won't stop
We don't even know how to stop
Stop the ride - the human race -
Please exit through the gift shop.

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