I haven’t your body to kill.

 

I haven’t the shadow to stand by you.

I haven’t the footsteps to fill.

I haven’t the luck that you happen to.

I don’t have a body to kill.

 

I can’t make the motions you fall into;

Yet I can’t be as sullen as still.

I will for the murder that you would do,

But I haven’t the murder to will.

 

I haven’t the hindsight of overview,

Though I know what you’re waiting until:

And I’d hold your fine body right over you;

But I haven’t the body to kill.

 

 

Written in response to my friend and counter-writer, Gary Holdaway’s fine post, which I absolutely insist you take a look at right now. http://garyholdaway.wordpress.com/2014/04/19/the-song-of-hera/

This piece to which I am responding was themed on “marriage,” and took the rather innovative narrative voice of Hera, wife of Zeus. Their relationship was fraught with various troubles, to put it mildly. From my experience a real problem in a relationship can arise when there is an imbalance of powers or attributes, which can lead the “weaker” party to feel trapped, isolated and unimportant. Hera probably felt an awful lot like this, from time to time, when she wasn’t just being awesome with wrathful jealous vengeance. 

As such, this current piece has as its theme “Imbalance,”  particularly within relationships. Feeling like the other person is freer, more beautiful, or just superior, and being unable to convince yourself that it isn’t so; feeling that the other person is more real, more alive, unattainable and above you; that your own mind, body or spirit just cannot compare: this has occurred to me many unfortunate times.

It’s a miserable bloody theme I know, but it stems strongly from the theme before it. As ever, I cannot wait to see how Mr Holdaway turns this one on its head. Watch this space.  Better still, follow the blog: http://garyholdaway.wordpress.com/

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