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Sunday, June 30, 2013

Sleeping Beauty

I dream of...
fairy tale kisses with happily ever after...
fairy tale villains defeated by true love...
when will such a kiss awaken my dormant heart?
will the villain within me ever be defeated?
is there a true love out there awaiting our happily ever after?

I dream of...
a prince, brave and true, who will fight for me...
a prince, hansom and sure, who will steal my heart...
will he be willing to fight me for me?
is the thorny thicket around my heart too overgrown?
will I know him immediately and let down my defenses?

I dream of...
feeling (finally) the beauty buried within...
feeling (at last) the love that surrounds...
is my beauty buried too deep to ever reach the surface?
are my defenses too strong to ever let love in?
will my eyes ever be opened to feel the truth?

I dream of fairy tales...
based in truth...
fairy tales distorted with time, but still possible.



Inspiration for this piece:  This is a convergence of three things. (1) dVerse Pub tender, Victoria C. Slotto posted an exploration of anaphora (repetition of a word or expression at the beginning of successive phrases, clauses, sentences, or verses especially for rhetorical or poetic effect), which sparked (2) a tickle of a form that is not a form [see "A note on form" for more details].  And then there was (3) dVerse Poetics post with Mary tending the bar that provided Disney characters as a prompt.  And while this post has absolutely nothing to do with Disney's Sleeping Beauty, it explores fairy tales and adds in bits and pieces from the story line as support.

On unearthing titles:  I wasn't completely sold on this title; I did not go into this poem (a) knowing the title nor (b) knowing I would focus on details from Sleeping Beauty.  I actually had both Princess Aurora and Snow White in mind as I began thinking about dreams, which led to sleep and being awoken by a kiss.  But mixing a spindle and a poison apple did not seem natural.  Plus Briar Rose is my favorite princess and fairy tale, so how could I not choose her.

A note on form:  This is a variation on a Triquest, called a Monkey Triquest.  And what exactly is a triquest?  It is something I made up around the December of 2010 (though the first poem written in this form was in May of 2010, which the form was based on).  And yes, I even incorporated variations, three to be precise (though one variation could be adapted like the first two thus providing five variations).  I don't think I've actually written a poem in this form since early 2011.  It was neat to revisit it.

3 comments:

Brian Miller said...

fairy tales based in truth...i would rather that...the stanza on finding the beauty within...i would wish that for most...and i dont think it buried too deep to find in anyone...though sometimes it takes some discipline in who we listen to...smiles.

Mary said...

Ha, sometimes the villain within is the most villainous and hardest to defeat. And I do know that sometimes it IS hard to feel that beauty that is within. It is easier oftentimes to see someone else's beauty than your own beauty. Sigh. Everyone deserves love though, and I do believe that if a person is open to it, it will appear at some point.....not necessarily when one is looking. I enjoyed your Triquest form....and how you worked your poem to both Victoria's ane my prompt. I looked on dVerse to see if it was linked there, and it isn't. But I found it anyway! Ha.

J Cosmo Newbery said...

I like the form and the rhythm that goes with it. But will it happen? I can't wait to find out!