Hawthorne's Alphabet

Hawthorne's Alphabet

I pin my flaws to my shirt. Adultery never
comes first. It should. Jealousy pushes her way
to the front, Attention-seeking vies for position.

Great tail grackle grazes the trail of
freshly cut grass, snatching gnats that flee my blade,
then the ungrateful bird turns to scow at my intrusion.
"Can't have it both ways, little lady."

All the Selfs are scratched into the creases of my forehead.
Self-seeking, self-hatred, selfishness, self-importance.
Perhaps they hope to draw your gaze up away from my eyes.
God knows those eyes might expose Lust and Lies and
the deepest Betrayal, secret backseat scenes,
quiet bills left on the night stand,
the begging of a stranger's grip on neck
"Would you just Kill me already?"
Suicide is too damned inconvenient.

Manipulative and Controlling try to topple and
bind tall men of power. They build up the weak
to do my bidding in the guise of kindness and desire.

Sloth sleeps deep in the hollow of my back. Pride
and Grandiosity usually cower under Shame, but they
sure know how to make a noise; squawking like an
ungrateful crow that does not know a
good handout when she sees one.

~