Rope 'round a heart
and the bell swings one--
a kiss like that isn't fooling anyone.
Rope 'round a heart
and the bell swings two-
one for the beggar man who watches you.
Three bell, four bell, five bell, six--
Nuns in the alleyway say mox nix
To you and your seven rope,
you and your eight--
Rope 'round a heart
and the gibbet bell prate.
______
uh-mazing. rhythm, rhyme, and spice
ReplyDeleteLovely lilt and cadence in this, Shay ❤️
ReplyDeleteLove the rhyme and rhythm.......
ReplyDeleteI'm like the rest--I love the rhythm of this piece.
ReplyDeleteAND I feel ignorant reading it, so I guess I need to look up a couple of words/phrases. ;)
This is just as scary as it is good. I can't stop reading it. It's almost like a mirror-in-the-dark chant that's going to unleash a dead priest and little-girl jumproper on me, haunting me to tell their twisted, mysterious versions of the same story.
ReplyDeleteIt creeps me the hell out, in other words.
damn woman! do you HAVE to be so fucking good?!? oh, i know you can't help it. a.maz.ing.
ReplyDeleteOoh, spooky and sinister, and the mystery tantalising. Do we want to know the concrete details? Probably not!
ReplyDeleteI always love the way you take this elf-created form and jump it into new territory. Here the sense of being both bystander and participant, lover and watcher, is very present, even if mox nix is the prevalent philosophy of nuns, and none-s. Always a pleasure to read what lightning you are able to pull out of the ether, Shay.
ReplyDeleteLove it, almost like a jumprope rhyme :)
ReplyDeleteI said this incantation out loud and a genie appeared, and offered "I'll grant you any wish."
ReplyDeleteI said, "OK, make me a malted."
The Genie waved his hands and said "YOU"RE A MALTED!"
So, thanks. Now I'm a damned malted. The poem was worth it, though.
It does have a jump rope rhythm.. I didn't notice it the first time I read it. Awesomeness!!
ReplyDeleteThe gallows rope here sways in that creepy-excellent way.
ReplyDelete