Friday, November 27, 2009

Lion and Gazelle

The predator and the prey
Story as old as time
Old as sin

You the ear I had longed for

The gentle hand that I needed

A safe space
You were safe
So welcoming in all of your ways

It was hard to see your mane
Behind your painted face
And me the gazelle flexing my muscles
Forgetting who I was
Really

I was but a gazelle
A child
In need

You a lion
Prancing around like you loved me

And I could feel you touching me
As if my face were lovely
Stepping slowly
Into my heart

And I believed

Right before you snapped
On top of me
Crushing my face
As if you never saw me

And then when I looked in the mirror
It no longer looked liked me

It looked like my longing

Like you

2 comments:

michelle said...

i love the way this poem flows. you really have a way with words. but this also makes me sad; seems like someone you trust crushing your soul. (i really hope that is not the case though...)

off topic slightly, but i find it funny that the word verification to posting on this post is "nolion". oh the irony. =)

K said...

"And then when I looked in the mirror
It no longer looked liked me

It looked like my longing

Like you"

This is really powerful, Catie. I especially love these few lines because they are so true. I love the emotional awareness that you express through your poetry. Also, another thing that is fascinating about this poem (stylistically) is how you begin and continued the poem as a metaphor, and then transitioned to you, and to your own face in the mirror. This transition from a brutal metaphor to yourself, gazing in the mirror, really confronts the reader with the truth of what happened and of how it affected you and your human spirit.
Catie, I admire your braveness and honesty in your poetry. Keep speaking the truth, no matter how brutal it may be or how naked it makes you feel.
Your writing has a force and resonates with people more than I think you know...