what one might wish for or expect, but let me be direct--
We are here by dint of some master's splintered stake,
charged with undertaking to repel, not attract
Those 24 that you've not caught, killed, tricked or baked.
The moral sense of scarecrows is something not often considered
as something pertinent to hired foreman or spurned bird,
But ruminate on this, as we have, long nights among the stalks--
envy of avian creatures gives rise to unwonted nocturnal talks
About how to catch and kill the critic, and leave him rotting intestate.
______
10 lines it took me for-freaking-ever to come up with, for Kerry's "Eye of The Beholder" mini-challenge at Real Toads!
Some dark humor, some philosophical musings, some rhyme.
ReplyDeleteYou should read Cynthia Rylant's picture book entitled "Scarecrow." (It will take less than five minutes. Read it at the library or a bookstore, and then return it to its shelf.) It makes one almost envy scarecrows...
It was worth it!
ReplyDeleteThis is an amazing P.O.V. and the musings are meaty despite the imposed brevity of number of lines. You have condensed a great deal into this monologue.
I love the title! This is a great write and those sentences and filled with treasures.
ReplyDeleteFashion has a purpose really.. and I know quite a few who dress to scare.
ReplyDeleteI love this wonderfully twisted dance between perspective, point of view... and what might be expected. It reads like a movie, too. Delicious! ♥♥♥
ReplyDeleteI was expecting a satire, with that title but you've given us so much more. As Kerry said above--so much in this compressed piece of carbon, sharp as a diamond drill, and full of an extravagant imagination that glows in the internal and repeated rhymes and assonance, from the heavy caustic pragmatism of the first lines to the final --literally-killer close. However long you spent, it was well worth every second, and the craftsmanship under the metaphor is what makes it all work like a dark charm. Really, for all its brevity, one of your best, imo.
ReplyDeleteSuch an intriguing write, with layers of metaphors compiled into a whole of an almost dramatic piece. Loved it. :-)
ReplyDelete-HA
Eavesdropping, r u?
ReplyDeleteam singing "four and twenty blackbirds baked in a pie" ....love the context of the poem!
ReplyDeleteI'll never look at scarecrows the same again! You packed a powerful punch in 10 lines. Dark and cool.
ReplyDeleteLove it! I think I know some humans scarecrows...designed to repel and not attract...
ReplyDeleteThe scarecrow is scary to humans! Excellent!
ReplyDeleteEw, creepy, indeed! There's an owl that perches himself in the chimney next door, and in the darkness, his outline scares the piss out of me. I don't let my Yorkies out on nights like that. Loved this, la la Mosk
ReplyDeleteSharp and clever.
ReplyDeletecreated to repel... just think of how that must feel. That's the sentiment I kept coming back to, the Master created the monster - and the image of a scarecrow is just so eerie.
ReplyDeleteOh, this was worth every minute!
ReplyDelete