MAD WOMAN

I, Mabel, hear the years buzz
	Someone said what happened to Mabel
	the one whose mother burned houses
	and someone answered they took her away
	one afternoon She said her room was fur
	and would kill her with its great wings

I hear the years buzz
	In the hall there were owls
	and cranes with necks like esses
	webbed feet of frogs that were men
	that suddenly were men
	I locked my door
	there were rabbits   many   weaving
		long circles
		round my room
	I ran to the window
	nuns walked near the convent
	I called and I called
	after a while men who were tall
	broke open the door
	that the dark green snails
	had sealed firm
	I was carried   bandaged in blankets
	unable to do more than wink
	down a long stair
	heads sat on the bannisters
	watching

Now, I sit in a chair
	painting white pictures
	nobody sees them but me
	safer so
I have gilded my arms with a pigeon's blood
and my captors are animal lovers

Sometimes I think of the nuns
	they never come here

		- Shirley Powell

Links to other sites on the Web

Read more by Shirley Powell at The Poet's Press

Poem used by permission of The Poet's Press

---

This page hosted by Get your own Free Home Page