Monday, May 7, 2007

Chapbook -- Anorexia Witch

A few ages ago I started a series of poems titled Anorexia Witch. After I "completed" the series I put them aside, and it has been within the past year or so that I have started working with the poems again. I wanted to have a chapbook together last year, but it wasn't meant to be-- even though my cover work is beautiful and complete.

Anyway, here's the first poem of the series:

Anorexia Witch 1

You enter wearing your black hat,
tip pointing to the sky,
never moves as you walk
or glide—always perfection.
Must be some talent.
You carry your cauldron,
handle over your wrist,
draped like curtain over a rod.
Your brew bubbles,
the air wafting
a delicious smell to my nostrils---
stirs a hunger in me,
well, almost.

You are rail thin,
your dress specially crafted
for a petite body.
I lust when I see the straps
of your heels criss-crossing
over your sharp ankles.

Bewitching. Intriguing. Bewitching.
I want you to bewitch me.

Let me have a taste
of what you carry.
Let me sip your perfection.
Whispering. Cackling. Whispering.
What is this spell you're casting?
Have I heard your words before?
Be a witch like the world
has never seen, one of pure
bodily perfection.

Before you call to your broom,
I request,
Cast your spell on me.

4 comments:

Kate Evans said...

What a surprising poem--lust for an anorexic. I love the way she's described, as in complete control, complicating nicely the usual illness-only-label.

Anonymous said...

great read

Dustin Brookshire said...

Kate / RDM, THANKS for reading and the comments.

Kate-- I'm off Friday, so I'm going to read your short story then. Maybe in a relaxing bath with candles around.

Unknown said...

Although she's a mean one, I have a certain fondness for the Anorexia Witch