Thursday 10 May, 2007

Narcissa

The mirror has two phases.
The last time I saw her, she had
Christine Daae-d and Miss Havishammed herself,
drowning in operas, stopping watches,
freezing time and storing winters in boxes.

Today, she removed the wail
and dawned an iridescent Feste,
motley in her description of men and manners.

The mirror has two phrases.
In the beginning, an iambic pentameter,
stressing and un-stressing
like a spasmodic gut-wrench,
stuck in Donne’s enjambment.

Now a warm haiku
Carefully measured triplets
Of cynicism.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

wow!
hey but wasn't hopkins the enjambment guy?
don't know why it should matter. what's donne need not be un-donne.

Anoopa Anand said...

No, no. Donne was the Original Enjambment Guy! It seems. Still waiting for that missed call. Bleddy.