can't deal with this, bring back Cupid
because in love the same things keep on happening
it's like talking to someone who isn't listening" --"Love Is Stupid" by Zama Nkabinde
"Oh, the lab! The lab!" he cried, exasperated.
"How you love it! Why can't you love me more?"
She answered with questions of her own.
"Why don't you have antlers?
Or orange eyes?"
She ducked neatly when he threw his glass at her,
and refused to fall for the old gambit of a man's tears.
She had tried, you know.
With the white mice, and then with human subjects,
during wartime, when anything goes.
Findings: crazy can be induced, love cannot.
However, if love occurs independently, crazy follows without effort.
She knows she is supposed to love her husband,
but in fact,
she loves the head bellman at the Ashby-Bancroft Hotel downtown.
At a conference, there he was,
effortlessly sparking the Tesla coil of her heart.
She will naturally have to give up science now,
obtain a divorce,
and take up something useless and mildly embarrassing--
but thrilling--
like poetry, or
checking into the Ashby-Bancroft out of her right mind,
relying entirely on the anecdotal,
and deaf to contrary data.
________
Find Zama Nkabinde's complete poem HERE. This poem written for Kerry's challenge at Real Toads.
How I love this! Especially how "crazy follows without effort." Yup. Love the science lab voice in this poem - very humorous.
ReplyDelete"With the white mice, and then with human subjects,
ReplyDeleteduring wartime, when anything goes.
Findings: crazy can be induced, love cannot.
However, if love occurs independently, crazy follows without effort."
The kernal of genius in this krazy korn!
ALOHA
ComfortSpiral
=^..^=
I like this comfortable mix of science, fairy tale and Film Noir wrapped around a great character voice--very Rosemary Clooneyish--Kicking.
ReplyDeleteI would vote for her to stick to science! But the heart will do what it will! A lot of fun, Shay. k.
ReplyDeleteFindings: crazy can be induced, love cannot.
ReplyDeleteHowever, if love occurs independently, crazy follows without effort.
Brilliant. And--sadly--true.
Oh, I love this object lesson in how 'stupid/crazy' love can make the best of us. My favourite couplet is the one presenting the findings of the investigation. Thanks for participating, Shay.
ReplyDelete"However, if love occurs independently, crazy follows without effort." What a light hand you give to the dreary and sentimental subject--like champagne instead of muddy bitter old tea. there is a quizzical and teasing feel to this that really only underlines the way the truth of love can easily level our lives. I also love the mad science.
ReplyDeleteThey say truth is stranger than fiction, well, it is funnier and sharper too. Great job with this- love it.
ReplyDeleteI absolutely adore this. I wanted it to go on!
ReplyDeleteOH! "Crazy follows without effort" :)
ReplyDeleteand THIS:
"effortlessly sparking the Tesla coil of her heart."
Awesomeness.
Science pays better... stick to that and become a rocket scientist, maybe she can get more men than mice.
ReplyDeleteThis is fabulously mad. It's frenetic feel works with the topic. Love can seem like mad science at times.
ReplyDeletePerfect. And I liked your commentary on poetry. 'useless and embarrassing.'
ReplyDeleteNo one develops characters and voice in such a short space as you do! This somehow recalls to mind the book I am reading now "The Scarlet Sisters: Sex, Suffrage, and Scandal in the Gilded Age" (Maybe the attitude). Not sure how accurate it is .. but it is a fascinating read so far (not too far into it yet). Here is the author talking about her book: http://www.c-span.org/video/?318367-1/myra-macpherson-scarlet-sisters Thought you might find it interesting...
ReplyDeleteHave you ever thought of writing a novel?
Findings: crazy can be induced, love cannot.
ReplyDeleteHowever, if love occurs independently, crazy follows without effort. Love that!