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We're All Mad Here

Posted by MistakenMagic on February 28, 2011 - 20:19
from the ABC set Conversation With My Thirteen-Year-Old Self

After a particularly nothing-to-report session
with my therapist, I retire to Esquire's coffee shop.
Mocha frappe and cheesecake (I'll go to the gym
twice tomorrow) to hand, I break out
Gilbert and Gubar's 'Mad Woman in the Attic'
and my 'Jane Eyre' essay. You told me I was Jane.
Today I think I'm Bertha-Jane... And last night
I was Bertha. But we won't go into that.

There's a girl at the table to my right,
curled up in her chair and retreating
into a bottle-green hoody like a snail.
She must be at least my age, yet
she's clutching a soft toy penguin.
In her other hand, as if to compensate,
a very-intellectual-looking book
whose title I can't make out.

She then proceeds to take out three
bottles of Bach's original flower remedies.
One by one, she places them on the table
in front of her, then takes a drip-sip from each.
I picture my own little Alice-vial, shoved
in my bedside drawer - bought that black day,
almost a month ago now, when I refused
to get out of bed.

(Ryan sat with me in the dark for an hour,
before dragging me to Boots for
daylight-robbery-herbal-remedy-bullshit.)
I don't realise I'm staring until she looks up
at me accusingly; embarrassed, annoyed.
I dive behind 'Mad Woman', but can
feel her glares burning through the book with
angry and-what-would-you-know-about its

and do-you-know-how-lucky-you-ares.
And I want nothing more than to raise
my hands in surrender. Tell her:
I do know about it. And actually,
I'm not as lucky as you might think,
although, admittedly, I'm luckier than most.
Tell her: the whole world is as mad as a hatter,
but hang in there; somehow, it will, just has to, get better.

Discuss this piece in the abctales forum


Comments

skinner_jennifer | February 28, 2011 - 20:35

Hi Magic,

you are certainly taking the reader on a journey
through your life at the moment. Who is this girl
sat at the table curled up in a chair, was she a
student you knew, or just a stranger? she certainly
sounded strange clutching a soft toy penguin, or is
that the latest thing to do?

I love reading about your life, it's so up and down,
just how it should be when your a student, it wouldn't be real if it was always plain sailing all
the time.

It also makes me feel young again to read your work.

Thanks,

Jenny.

MistakenMagic | February 28, 2011 - 21:44

Thanks, Jenny! This is actually a poem about my Monday afternoon - gospel truth. No idea who the girl was, what she was reading or why she had a penguin. But I haven't done a people-watching poem for a long time and this just begged to be written :)

Magic xxx

insertponceyfre... | March 1, 2011 - 07:30

I really like this piece of people-watching - the alice thread works very well. This is almost prose isn't it?

MistakenMagic | March 1, 2011 - 08:30

Thanks insert :) It is definitely prosetry. I've had fun flirtations with prose these past few months, but now I think I have the compulsion to keep things in short lines and stanzas ;)

Magic xxx

seashore | March 1, 2011 - 08:51

Great piece. As someone who is struggling and experimenting with format at the moment and only has an artistic background...is it a prose poem (whatever that is)? Love it anyway.

Highhat | March 1, 2011 - 09:01

I like the people observation as well. Just great.
;)Pia

Silver Spun Sand | March 1, 2011 - 10:23

Wonderful writing, Magic. Whether labelled 'prose' or 'poetry'. People-watching is fascinating, especially when preserved for posterity in such a way as this;-)

Hope you have a good week;-)

Tina xxx

luigi_pagano | March 1, 2011 - 12:05

I like this rambling monologue which leaves me wanting to know more. Why were you Bertha last night?
And why don't you want to go into that? It hints at some sort of mischief and I, being the nosy person that I am, want to know people's little secrets.
Lovely piece of writing, Rebecca, with the reference to the mad hatter which fits in nicely with the title.

Luigi xxx

MistakenMagic | March 1, 2011 - 13:02

Thanks seashore! I would class this as a narrative poem, so I guess a prose poem, in the sense that it's more a story told through poetry rather than meaning conveyed through metaphors and other figurative language. Keep experimenting ;)

Magic xxx

MistakenMagic | March 1, 2011 - 13:02

Thank you, Pia! :) Glad you enjoyed this spot of people watching.

Magic xxx

MistakenMagic | March 1, 2011 - 13:04

Thanks, Tina. The poem just started forming there and then in the coffee shop, I scribbled it down as soon as I got back to college. It's probably the quickest scribbling to ABC transfer I've ever done ;)

Magic xxx

MistakenMagic | March 1, 2011 - 13:05

Ah Luigi, those answers are for another day, another poem even ;) I shall have to keep teasing you! Thanks for reading!

Magic xxx

fatboy74 | March 1, 2011 - 16:14

You have captured this so well Magic - particularly those awkward times when you get caught by the person you've been staring at. Really well observed - sorry i'm a bit late to this. :-)

MistakenMagic | March 1, 2011 - 16:26

You're not late at all, fatboy - great to hear from you and glad you liked my observations ;)

Magic xxx

rjnewlyn | March 1, 2011 - 22:49

Yes, it's very good - the way it flits between your thoughts and the world outside without being too obvious or heavy-handed. I liked it a lot.

Rob

MistakenMagic | March 1, 2011 - 23:07

Cheers, Rob! Glad you think I got the balance just right ;)

Magic xxx

Dynamaso | March 2, 2011 - 01:03

I love people watching but don't think I've ever turned out anything quite as good as this from practicing it. Well done!

MistakenMagic | March 2, 2011 - 10:56

Thanks, Mark :) Maybe you just have to be watching the 'right' people ;)

Magic xxx

Beeme | March 4, 2011 - 18:24

I'm so sorry I'm so late commenting, been snowed under with school work at the moment. This is a stunning poem, I agree with Fatboy you capture the awkward moments very well. Love the hope at the end, I really like it all :) Very much enjoyed.

Beeme xx

MistakenMagic | March 4, 2011 - 18:43

Don't worry, Beeme - I know the feeling. Three essays to do at my end, better get cracking! Thanks for taking the time to comment :)

Magic xxx

Kahdai | March 19, 2011 - 12:48

I think maybe needs that penguin for singing I got those happy feet! :D K

threeleafshamrock | April 2, 2011 - 09:23

Compelling; I felt like a fly on the wall. You study life and people as all the great poets must...but then, why wouldn't you...

Great write!

Chris XXXX

MistakenMagic | April 2, 2011 - 11:42

Thanks, Chris! Durham is a great place for people watching and this was the result!

Magic xxx

Geoffrey | April 30, 2011 - 09:18

Beautiful! Writing is writing whatever people say, if the result is good well done!