a two-part matter of monsters
monsters
monster means something important
out for show
but we know monster
really
for ourselves and
also monstrous
connotation
and old scary movies
and before that
illustrations here and there on paper
though mostly
through
stories
the monster that we see outside
and
do not see
the gruntings or the screams we think we
hear
there is what goes into
and has always been
inside
the mind
monsters worse that in there
rise
sometimes in sleep
or we take them waking into
feeling
thinking
the spirit
the ego
our inner things fed one way or another
and then become
our conscious
if monsters not-consciously influence
‘til
they’re
known
maybe through counsel
maybe we learn to drag the beasts from
deep lurking
into a shallow sunlit place
where they
are known
and
let
awareness both appreciate as well as
eschew
all monsters
doubting
they do not go away
so we’ll pursue
and
come to know in unshadowed time
and circumstances
live with
then
the monstrous as
best
(not beast)
as we may
monstrous negotiation
maybe that’s how I’ll leave it
a discussion
for
the day
of what’s monstrous
what are the beasts that lurk away
or want
to invade
and also the shaded things
as creatures
that
we keep inside
the world
certainly can
be
a bestial place
look at D. C.
and also western Asia with points
west
and east
until except for penguin colonies
the Earth is subsumed
by
all the monster presences
and possibilities
and we think monster-hunting will
resolve
except the monstrous will not like it
and might attack
or simply
push
tall and deadly things from
the forests in
our way
the forest out there
and
of course
the woods in here
the fairytale monsters
point
toward us while
reading or
otherwise receiving
and while they
return
and so we have more stories
maybe there’s
a matter of negotiation
that
only lately
except for Androcles
the narratives are positing
that
we make friends
with dragons
and
so ask Saint George to consider new
pursuits
that we bargain with ourselves
as well
and the clawed and jagged creature-parts
dwelling
deep
but changing moods
and agendas near and over the surface
to outside
and
then each other
rather
to learn the monsters
that
we won’t need to feed them
they’ll be fine
and teach us in return
that what is
monstrous
needs no encouragement
but
in appreciation
then
of everything we are
chastened
we step into the waters of the world
all the currents
even
caves once knowing
what inhabits
there
in me
in you
so us
and in them
until the them be us as well
c l couch
photo by steffen wienberg on Unsplash
The Monster Speaks
One thing the movies miss
Nearly all the time
Is to let the monsters speak
I’m hearing gargoyles talking
They make scary sense
They’re vicious and
Want to be left alone
If you want to see Frankenstein
Then read it
It’s not long
The most humane speeches
Are from the creature
Made by Victor
Who abhorred his work and then
Abandoned it
An ugly, powered creature
Left to roam the Earth
A child in a Golem’s body
With no control
Or advice to live
But when it speaks
The words are articulate
And passionate
Having been made by a human
Why can’t there be something of
The humans’ own?
The parent’s own and
Something of companionship
The words show us who
The monsters are
We slip into barbarity of action
While the best words remain
The creature’s own
No mistaking, the creature-made
Commits atrocities
There is a tragedy in the making
In having been made
In human vanity to make
But forestalling
Or destroying
Might have happened early on
As it is, the monster (so we way)
Is left alive
I know, for sequels
While the human maker
Frankenstein
Pursues his own destruction,
Which is no kind of justice
She knew what she was doing
C L Couch
Photo by Tim Mossholder on Unsplash
Peloton Cellars, Front Street, Avila Beach, CA, USA
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