Vamps as bloody lipped enticers rule
An empire of allure. Set art deco traps for
Martyrs, razzle-dazzled by small
Portions of delight. But earlier, Victorians
Imbibing Vampire tales became staunch haemophiles.*
Ruled by sanguinary signs, were naturally
Enamoured by the chaste, but wasted woman
- A genetic bleeding disorder due to missing clotting factors – initially called “haemorrhaphilia” then foreshortened to haemophilia – haem/blood and philia/lover is far more fitting for vampires! Several members of the 19th century European Royal family inherited the disease from Britain’s Queen Victoria
- wasted – reference to ‘the wasting disease’ i.e. tuberculosis/consumption another common disease of the 19th century in which blood manifested “so that the link between these consumptive women and the supernatural figure of the vampire points out the disease’s power to act as a metaphor for mystery and the supernatural”.[source]
Just 44 words and an Acrostic for Dora’s quadrille prompt: Vampire
PoetryPix 