Saturday 12 April 2014

NaPoWriMo Catch-up 9: Ultimate

You talk of broken bodies, burning souls,
revisiting the lights that throw a shadow
that you never thought you'd stand below again.

What, of yourself, would you observe in me?
Fat trans woman; muscled man:
the surfaces are different,

but Barthes says we tell stories with our bodies. 
Some run, some fly, some merely stand and speak,
but everyone of us, until we sleep,

is saying something. You said we could be
more than what's thought normal; we could scream
and make no sense but still be realer,

on some level, than a world of monster heels.
We could fell giants, topple legends, change the script.
Small wonder I'd feel I could slam the myth

that says biology should tie me up in ropes
that people make of lies and chromosomes,
(though unlike you I don't want more testosterone

inside my veins): you taught me I could laugh at pain, 
revel in extremity, find power in being a freak.
And you taught me this: when you're about to break, 

don't run, don't tap; reach out, reach up
and bang your head until the crowd goes apeshit
and then, if you're wild enough, you just might make it.

* * *

Back on prompt after a couple of days off it for this one. The five song titles incorporated into the poem were: 'Body and Soul' by Tori Amos, 'Until It Sleeps' by Metallica and the San Francisco Symphony Orchestra, 'Fly Me Away' by Goldfrapp, 'Mannenberg (Revisited)' by Abdullah Ibrahim and Ekaya, and 'The Shadows Betray You' from the 'The Dark Knight Rises' original soundtrack by Hans Zimmer. And inspired by the sad news of the death of former wrestler (and my childhood hero) the Ultimate Warrior

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