PoetryPix
depictions by the rule of thirds; descriptions mostly freestyle words
Spellbound
I am thy fool in the morning, thou art my slave in the night. Paul Dunbar ~ Paradox
Though you outrank, I outwit
and enact the birdbrain beauty by day
by jest and gesture
by command an unbidden entertainer
wound like a top, I teeter and pirouette
jibing with a wicked play on words
by appointment to amuse
squeezed betwixt matters of status and state
and that aristocratic alcazar in the air
by servility I’m levelling the ground
by devious pricks at pride, by turning cartwheels
on these sadomasochistic machinations.
Come the night, come clawing at the door
on bended knee to peer at the lock-shaped shaft of light
and staging it all, I’ll disrobe for the uncertain voyeur
the undisputed guest puzzling the password
wondering how it is that you walk celestial spheres
yet the draw of the moon pulls down and down
to these dirty, rumpled, reclusive sheets
By day you hold me in a vice, to promises unsaid.
Dreaming, I am bound to surrender your will.
– Which of us then, has cast the last spell?
Taking 'paradox' as literary device, I've chosen the Dunbar line to set the tone of this poem for my Poetics prompt: Beyond Meaning or The Resolution of Opposites
39 Comments on “Spellbound”
let your feedback be food for thought....
The beginning really pulled me in, and I like the battle between the day and the night, that comes full circle in the end with the day being like night (at least that is what I read)
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an interesting take on it though I wrote more literally in the relationships implied there that turn about according to day or night
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Damn Laura! This is by far more than I expected to read of a Paradox…
Love how this came out as a battlefield that you enjoy.
Your last line, posed as a question sounds like you’re opposite equals nearing an agreement.
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thank you for enjoying this battle of wills and attraction – who wins will be written in the stars 😉
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Smart.. 😏
You ooze poetry.
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I love where the Dunbar line took you and your poem, Laura, which had me spellbound, and the wordplay, such as ‘outrank/outwit’, ‘jest/gesture’, as well as the wonderful sounds in the phrases’aristocratic alcazar in the air’ and ‘sadomasochistic machinations’. My favourite lines:
‘wondering how it is that you walk celestial spheres
yet the draw of the moon pulls down and down
to these dirty, rumpled, reclusive sheets’
and the final question.
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many thanks Kim for your comments and appreciation – was stuck midway with this poem until I let the night relationship have a different tempo and mood, part of which you picked out here!!
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Sounds like office politics to me. Those vying for power and control in government are some of the worst. Your word choices and word smithing never fail to please.
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oh no I never touch politics – always I stay within the personal!
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Good to know, Laura.
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You’ve captured the haunting essence of the Dunbar poem, and particularly the chosen line here, Laura. I like the wordplay: ‘outrank/outwit,’ ‘jest /gesture’, ‘status/ state,’ serving to outline the oppositions set up by this particular paradox.
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I appreciate your keen observations Ingrid – spot on!
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Wow, Laura- this is stunning. I have read it twice now, And I love it more each time.
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it has something of your red rose feel!! thank you for the second reading
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I consider that a huge compliment Laura. I love your poetry!
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what a very nice thing to say – thank you!!
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It’s true. 😉
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I am literally swooning right now 😍 this is such a deliciously woven poem, Laura! I love how my tongue rolls off on the sounds in “aristocratic alcazar in the air,” and the way you describe the eternal battle of power between day and night. The closing question made me clap and whistle in applause. Love it!! 💝💝
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since so much of your poetry is sensual I thought you might appreciate this but am touched by your enthusiasm!! These two lovers swap roles yet each has something of the other by day and night
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I agree, they certainly do! xx
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Wow, this is like a trance and it’s captivating!
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thank you for being captivated – it fits well with the fool and her lover
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Excellent
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thank you Ron
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Wow Laura, that was riveting!
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thank you
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I love this contrast and the paradox it offers. Each gender has its abilities to manipulate and get what they want. It is the story as old as time itself!
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and still new!
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I absolutely love your use of words in this, ‘birdbrain beauty’ ‘wicked play on words’. Your third and fourth stanzas are so exquisitely beautiful in every word. But your last stanza is the clincher, a sensual weaving of words and roles!
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I appreciate your comments Kate not least because the wordsmithing is integral to the poem since it alludes at one level to the medieval fools/jesters who used it to good effect
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I thought so, great work!
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Laura,
This is, hands down, one of the best poems I have read of late.
Yours,
David
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and this is surely my favourite comment of late David 😉 many thanks for such encouragement
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Quite the relationship you describe here — yet who is the manipulator, and who the manipulated, roles that seem to be turned on their heads as readily as night and day. Imagery of the half-bitter, the half-ironic serves to describe the interplay of this paradox so brilliantly!
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well-spotted Dora – you picked up on the all important half-irony which counters any suggestion of bitter powerstruggle
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kaykuala
Though you outrank, I outwit
and enact the birdbrain beauty by day
by jest and gesture
Even the opening itself reveals the natural tendency to great poetry. Choice of words is prompted by the prompt you had chosen for us for it elicited from the mind to go deep to bring out the choicest words. Thanks, Laura, Ma’am!
Hank
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many thanks Hank for such generous word – so glad you plumbed the paradox too
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Wow, I am so amused by yr wordplay and wit (and
sexiness, did I mention sexiness?) It was truly an enjoyable read/ Thank you, gray
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yes the relationship here is far from Platonic (!)and your remarks are much appreciated – thank you gray
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