Wednesday, September 24, 2014

Trap Door





I have a demon for sale

but it will cost you
more than
you are probably
willing to pay.

It has already
bled me drier than a
dead president’s kiss,

and still I owe.

I go
to great lengths
to starve it,

try to keep it at bay—

this drunk dial
sober reality
I try wishing away—

close the trap door,
cut it off
at its legs,

squeeze-close
the cracks
in my armor, again,
from the fray.

Because
when you love
something broken

you break

and you break
and you break.


© 2014 Jennifer Wagner



For dVerse Poetics Grace offers us the work of conceptual photographer Brooke Shaden.


Note:  I took some artistic license with the word "trapdoor."  I separated it for dramatic emphasis, in case anyone was hung up on the spelling, ha.  But dictionary.com says it can be "trap door" too, so maybe it's okay anyway.  Thanks for reading!

20 comments:

Unknown said...

very powerful... inner demons are something that remains a part of us forever, actually... I have mine; I pray to gain control over them. They're like bad memories: you can move on, but can you ever really forget them?

Grace said...

This is a terrific response Jennifer ~ Some inner demons do haunt us until we break, break and break again ~ Thanks for linking up and wishing you happy week ~

Fireblossom said...

Fucking wow. Best and most merciless poem I have read in donkey yonks. A demon for sale? What a sharp, grab-you-and-make-you-read premise; and it just gets better from there. First rate, gut punch stuff. I can't say enough.

Brian Miller said...

oh so very true....that last part...when you love something broken you break and break and break....solid opening as well jennifer....

Wendy Bourke said...

This is, I think, one of the most perfervid (my word for the day) articulations of addiction’s endless labyrinth of bad passages and trap doors. And what a powerful ending. Wonderful writing, Jennifer.

Donna Smith said...

From beginning to end...great!
Loved "when you love something broken you break and break and break"! Sadly true.

Anonymous said...

strong and intriguing at the start, and then you pulled us along to the strong ending. I enjoy when a poem does that.

Mary said...

So true that when you love something broken you bread and break and break. Lots to think about in your words, Jennifer.

Gabriella said...

This is a great poem, Jennifer. The ending is particularly powerful, and so true. Sadly we often learn this when it is too late.

Claudia said...

drier than a
dead president’s kiss... great image... and how true it is as well that when you love sth. broken you break... good to close that trap door

RMP said...

there's something about the end that was just shattering for me...maybe it was 'cause I didn't quite see it coming (probably because something about the beginning made me think of the cigarette commercials were the young girl is told the money isn't enough and she peels off a portion of skin from her face...I can't bare to watch or listen to the commercial)...sorry for the tangent...but I liked that I couldn't see the end coming...it made it all the more powerful.

Margaret said...

Whew, girl. This is fantastic… Grabbed me by the collar and never let go! I read it three times. You asked me if I have ever published - no, but I have created my own books through iPhoto on my Mac and they turned out wonderfully. :) I just love your poetry.

brudberg said...

ah yes.. this just great Jennifer.. the president's kiss.. to have a demon for sale (not often you can share an inner demon)...and yes you break from trying to share it .. alas the saddest of things.. when most needing you drag everyone down into your darkness...

Vandana Sharma said...

A devilish aura it has and I thinks sometimes such demons reside in our own soul.

ayala said...

Great images, beautifully penned.

janetld said...

I have a demon for sale

but it will cost you
more than
you are probably
willing to pay.

Thought-provoking, powerful, and concise writing!

Magyar said...

__Brooke's deep photo... enhanced by your verse! A humble echo.

in silence creeps
below each day's foot steps
fiend's cavern
_m

Unknown said...

When you love something broken... you slammed this one shut!

Audrey Howitt aka Divalounger said...

Such a fabulous response--I love this piece Jennifer

Anonymous said...

oof. that reads (to my eye) of depression, eloquently and with clarity ~