At 4:00 a.m. in the pre-dawn morning
the owls sing their songs
like a call and response in their oak forest cathedral.
A tiny bat speeds across the sky in front of
my bedroom window.
The cat sits on the window sill
watching beside me.
In a few hours
I’ll be at the museum,
sort of my own cathedral.
Yet, the woods are also mine.
A place of others.
The creatures of the night.
Those who do not create beauty,
but are beauty.
~ Juliette aka Vampire Maman
He stood in front of me
his neck a stump
without a head.
In his hand was a note
on expensive stationary
scrawled in rough cursive.
It said
I need
a HEAD.
To his delight
I took a gourd,
a pumpkin really,
and with a knife
carved a face
with eyes fierce
with pride
and a mouth
that smiled
not with joy
but with spite.
I put the pumpkin on his neck
then lit the candle within
and told him
“Go find another. I’m tired of loving a man who is always losing his head over nothing.”
~ Juliette aka Vampire Maman
Had you stayed the way you were
The night would have seemed brighter
The day would have seemed longer
The stars dimmer
_______________
Had you stayed the way you were
Another would have loved you
As tradition required
Married and content
Yearning for more
_____________________
Had you stayed the way you were
I would have loved
Someone in the shadows
Who could never have kept
My passion alive
_____________________
Had you stayed the way your were
You would just be a memory
An old photo for me to treasure
A dried carnation wrapped in lace
_____________________
Had you stayed the way you were
I would have loved you
A hundred years ago
And now you’d be a ghost
In my heart alone
___________________
Had you stayed the way you were
I wouldn’t feel
Your kiss so cold
With the passion of ice
And fire blazing
With your dazzling fanged smile
My Vampire love.
__________________
~ Juliette aka Vampire Maman
I seek you out
I attack
Then sing the song of my people
Loud
With gusto
And wake the dead
And the living
To cry out
The fact
That I have found
A rubber band.
I am
The Cat.
The end.
~ Juliette aka Vampire Maman
Miss Gloria will be the first to tell you that she doesn’t give a rat’s ass about your comfort. Never has. Never will.
People won’t admit they read poetry and are moved by it…but late at night they go on the Internet and search it out. It is like pornography. I’m dead serious (no pun intended). It is a need that most people will not dare admit to.
It isn’t a good time for me to expound upon the history of poetry or what caused the American population (among others) claim not to like poets. But I would like to remind everyone, especially those of us who can remember the past several centuries that there was a time that poets were the Rock Stars of our culture.
Sometimes I pull out my old volumes of favorites and read in the quiet of the night or on a rain soaked day. In turn, I also look for the new. I marvel at the many voices I see with poetry on the internet.
Part of me believes technology with recorded music, radio, TV etc maybe brought an end to the poet as a popular icon. But in turn the Internet, yes the Internet has brought poetry back to life.
I see in the online communities that poetry is being read, not ignored. I don’t read those words online “I don’t like poetry.” I see people who NEVER would read a poem, forwarding poetry to their friends and loved ones.
Poetry is a gift to the soul. Poetry is for everyone. Everyone needs poetry, like a vampire needs blood, like a hawk needs to fly, like a fish needs to swim. I know that wasn’t very poetic but you get the point – I hope.
Today is International Poetry Day. Why not make every day a Poetry Day?
~ Juliette aka Vampire Maman
I was a spirit
In white silk with pink roses
Bustle in back
You in black tails
Took my breath away
And a century later
When you realized
That I loved you
I could exhale.
~ Juliette aka Vampire Maman
