A narrative poem inspired by a dream I once had about a conflicted female assassin. |
In my dreams There I live A thousand lives A day Living in this one Revealed the past In a most disconcerting way I'll never forget it At once real and chimeric Unfettered by this pen Come then Let me tell you It was in old days gone by In China's Shanghai He and I were together Just as we are today But enacting evil was our stock in trade Upscale assassins we were, paid To impede lives from living In this, my forgotten memory He in his tophat Me riding his coattails In a bright scarlet dress His name, no one knew When they asked he'd simply chew His tobacco, then shoot a quick glance That shocked their very spines And tickled mine I smirked, amused by the fear he inspired Of that sinister smirk...I never tired "Black Pepper!" he urged, snatching me from reverie Was that then my nickname? I followed him, whatever came Always close behind Through every thorn-ridden thicket Through every midnight sky 'Til one day we came upon A man who would not repay his debt He soon paid a heftier price As a corpse within a carpet So smug were we, Black Pepper and he The thought that we two would one day lose Couldn't have been further from view But what goes on in the darkness Is always brought to light "They know!" you screamed one day In fright As you rummaged through our hideout "We must flee, but first, there's something you've got to retrieve For you, for us...for me A key To a safe that houses riches beyond our wildest dreams." "But where should I look?" "At the home of the Three, it must've fallen there Last week...when I was conducting some business." "I'll go...you know I'd do anything for you." "Good, while you're at it, I'll get our papers ready, then we'll fly the coop." So I went in that red dress Ready to find the key--no small feat For these three viragos Female pirates, killers and thieves Ran a black market adoption agency Its name, "One Big Happy Family." As I open the door, I'm seized By a quick yet corpulent arm It's the one who wears all pink Fuchsia's never been so frightening Nor cause for such alarm She tosses me into a room with barred windows And a back door blocked off By a barricade of furniture She and the other three speak amongst themselves Voices bellowing My belly yellowing Fear invading me like a virus Then the sound of a door slamming shut My senses sharpen, my mind runs wild I'm trapped, trapped...just like a child All the world seems to flash red Lucky for me though My instincts prove stronger than dread I need to find the key, need to break free Before the three Furies return I look at the sofa blocking the door And catch a glint of something more It's a key! I hear a clickety-clack Oh no! They're coming back Through the front Just then, I'm two-for-two Underneath a tattered rug Lay a cellar door Opening with a strong tug I slip down and then out A window in the basement Looking back occasionally In amazement I made it! Now to go home At once we depart Make our way through the airport Just then I feel a hand grab a stray thread from my dress I see thickly-rimmed glasses on a seated man My dress in his grasp, a badge in his free hand My nameless pulls me close, tries to whisk me away But the decision is mine Which path do I take? One is chaos, the other refuge But which one is which? I think that not even I know anymore. |