This one was written around the same time as the last two poems, but I have little memory of it. I did have a drawing for this one once, but it has disappeared. It was of the two main characters in the fire together, so it was romantically tragic or morbid, depending on the audience.
Steadfast Tin Soldier
Balanced on one leg
and gazing across the room,
I, a paper doll for admiring
see my one-legged soldier
in tin attention, never retiring.
Lost by a child's carelessness.
my steadfast soldier gone!
I would weep for loneliness,
but my painted smile stays on.
At last, at last,
he is returned,
saved from the belly of a fish,
but thrown in the fire and burned.
No!
He must know he's loved
before he's gone!
I cannot watch him die alone!
Catching a draft of air, I leap.
My paper body burns in a flash;
and his melted tin keeps company
with the spangle from my sash.
April 2002
About Me
- Emily Shirts
- Artsie, Smartsie. I'm an artist and as long as I can still feel the joy of it and don't dress all in black and wear a beret and live in garrets and starve myself of food, family, and friends for the sake of art, I'll stay one.
2 comments:
Hooray, you finally posted. This is kind of a gruesome poem. i like it. Is your internet working now? Looking forward to fam reunion.
Alas, my internet is not working yet, I'm still outposting my posts. See ya soon.
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