Wollstonecraft's Sisters (Patricia Gomes)

I.

Getting back to where I was
is a Fool's Dream;
there is too much of me.
I am solid.Not the fairy-footed dancer
ringing her bell, not the cunning gazelle
running from the hungry lion.
Who was hunter, who was prey?
I am solid. And in solidifying, I have gained prudence,
but lost patience.
Tolerance is the lilac memory
of the girl who wore platform shoes.


II.

Dorcas: It is written that Mary Lamb knew when a fit of madness was
coming on. She and her brother Charles would walk arm-in-arm down
the lane and to the madhouse, weeping as they went.
They carried a strait jacket between them.

Now tell me, does this seem like a bad thing? Feeling the need for
quiet and seclusion, you simply check yourself in. Walk with me,
Dorcas — I'll carry the jacket.


III.

I accompanied him on his quest for fame,
forgetting that I went
only to find ivory-colored roses
with which to craft a gilded centerpiece.
I never found the roses,
disregarded my own name,
and the table we set was plain.
He went on to become A Known,
though by 40, the pills silenced him.
I am writing still.
When we talk, you and I, I remember.
The open road is in your voice, madness
in the way you shiver.
Leave him to travel, Dorcas. Keep your pens,
your paper. Keep
your name.

(Copyright (C) 2005 Patricia Gomes.)