Sarah Sawyers-Lovett
Dwarf House
Jeremy’s sleeping on the floor in front of drag race
despite Glitter on the phone with her next ex-boyfriend.
His concave chest rises and falls rhythmically
through her peals of laughter and the threat of heartbreak.
James is making stacks of pancakes
towers of clouds he won’t eat
until he crashes, sleeps for a day,
wakes up jonesing.
You’ll talk about rehab then.
Tariq and William are flirting shyly
building something tender
you want to build a wall around
keep it safe from a world where almost nothing is.
Mark calls just to kiki for a while
he’s been lonely, bored
since Justin passed. (He’s a donor to the house, sure
but he’s family, too.) He wants an audience
sometimes, someone to bear witness to his grief
and remind him that life goes on.
Phoenix stretches out the i in girl
so long you’d have time to write a manifesto
about the gender binary they opted out of
but it wouldn’t be half as eloquent as the arc
of their body when the music swells.
There’s never enough room for all these kids
(and despite the terrible shit they’ve seen
and the awesome potential of their lives,
they are practically children) but somehow
there’s always room for one more body.
Or two. Or ten. The community matters more
than chaos or discomfort.
A roof, a meal, a shower, a bed.
there is no monetary value attached to a hug, your time,
a ride to the free clinic, a clean interview shirt, a smile.
But it’s what you can offer and hope that it’s home enough
saying: it’s okay, it’s okay
in the end, we are here
and you will be safe with us.
We will be okay.
Sarah,
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed how you reimagined Snow White and the Seven dwarfs! You had some very strong images and dynamic wording. The only thing I would suggest is maybe working the ending again in an effort to capture the fullness of life that these individuals lead. Great Job!
Your story concept gets stronger every week, but I think you should add more “swing” to both the rhythm, and the sound of the words. There is more power and contextual connections to be made in this piece.
ReplyDeleteI am loving these fairytale story poems! I do a lot of illustrated poetry and hybrid work (I also try to incorporate that hybrid-ness into my work for this class- which is not always loved (haha) but, this series should be made into a book or a zine. I want more!
ReplyDeleteWould you be averse to line breaks? I think that would help the rhythm.
ReplyDeleteAnd Kourtney's illustration idea could work really well here. At least a dope screen printed cover.
"James is making stacks of pancakes
ReplyDeletetowers of clouds he won’t eat"...I hate pancakes but love this..this is different than your other poems yet very you. I loved it. This is probably my favorite fairy tale twist. I would experiment with form, especially line breaks.
This was a fairy tale that I think I picked up on (for once) but really loved your twist on it. I would agree with others regarding line breaks. Overall it works well, but I think it could be condensed or tightened. You can still hit all of your notes here with some leaner lines.
ReplyDelete