Here’s a mystery to explore:
Why beauty should be such a draw for ugliness.
See how the child Madeleine
was robbed, not only of her life but of her innocence;
Months on, when she lies surely dead or worse,
like a curse
cynical men, and women too, will
use her wide blue eyes
to sell their papers, books and TV
“documentaries”.
Far away, on a blazing summer day,
while playing near her home,
in the hot, marsh-meadow
where thistles grew
another, too,
was led deep into the cool wood,
to a hillside fragrant with leaf-mould,
touched – examined frightened injured hurt harmed damaged poked prodded with sticks abused disturbed misused molested
told not to tell
and then released
by those into whose hands she’d been entrusted.
Though they did no
obvious violence,
throughout her life she bore a secret scar;
Concluding, as a child might, that it was ugliness
that made men
hate and abuse her
think they had a right to rate her or choose her,
control her,
bet on her,
throw stones disguised as snowballs,
scream all those hurtful words as she passed by;
Use her like a toilet for their convenience
without the slightest decency, respect or sense,
or even a mockery of tenderness;
then toss her down like a sock with a hole.
So when a kinder soul, later,
offered love, protection,
she rejected such words as
stolen from the beautiful;
for how could such treatment be
meant for such an ugly one as she?
These days, as the gift fades,
she sees the false conclusion which that child made
more clearly;
Whatever’s beautiful attracts the Beast,
(flesh, innocence, youth, success, hope, heart)
though sadly, little atones
for all the years she bore the scars alone.
Perhaps it’s about power -
desire for possession,
a sickness of spirit,
lust,
or self-contempt – destroy what makes it lose control;
Perhaps it’s envy.
And yet - punish us for beauty
and also preach that it’s our only worth
everywhere across the face of this blighted earth ?
Brothers
Others, too…
is it not way past time to tell?
It is a mystery and a riddle.
And if you think you know the answer,
I beg you,
Say.
Author notes
Madeline McCann disappeared from her family's holiday chalet on May 3, 2007. When I read They all turned against her. by xdisturbedxemotions, I thought it timely to upload this piece,
Comments
1 - 11 of 11
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Wow! Incredibly ugly story told with beauty and grace. Trully you defined rhythm (so dear to my heart)"Concluding, as a child might, that it was ugliness
that made men
hate and abuse her
think they had a right to rate her or choose her,
control her,"
not sure why these things happen.......there are some people who consider me attractive and if they dont feel that way about themselves sometimes they try to tear me down............got fired once begun the ladies I worked for hated the fact that I had full breasts (true story.) when children are abused they love their sense of dignity and what is right....feel that they deserved it and dont know how to relate to others who try to appreicate them (will post my own child hood experience of abuse) great poem.....LD
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Slam Dunk!
Greetings Riveralex. Enjoyed the piece, especially its effectiveness as an oral exposition (that rang around the synaptic chambers of my noggin) but also in its empathic rendering of victims both personalized and general.
Your definition of "ugliness" as seen thru the eyes of an abused child chimes resoundingly poignant and adds to the heartbreak inherent in the ghastly scene.
Deep beauty as opposed to the superficial facials of our Time, can certainly be equated to a child´s innocence and therefore is all the more tragic when its wonderment is crushed.
The media in its commercial feeding frenzy merely espouses the central tenets of lurid patriarchal fascination with the degradation and destruction of beauty but like birdsong beauty clings with echoes of past magic to our souls long after ugly memories have dissolved into the rancid ether whence they derived.
I appreciate the manner in which you describe the insights arising "as the gift fades", Riveralex - the gift of beauty replaced by one of wisdom?
Also both a blessing and a curse simultaneously I believe.
Thanx for a thought provoking read.
Warm regards
gG
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I read it and i was overwhelmed with the emotion and thoughts on this. And though i could hack my brain to answer this, i don't think i will find answers...not yet. I wish to find answers to the same question. You have allowed me, through your words, to feel this things once again.
Madeline's reaction to keep to herself, to hold it all in is familiar...too familiar. "Obvious scars" are far better than those left hidden. For those things are burdensome, they eat away every bit of your being.If one is left in her own devices to muse over the matter, to find meaning...it will lead to nothing more than self-destruction. Not necessarily suicide, but the feeling that one is worth nothing, not even a look. Such state as a person is, the more those beast take hold of her. Yes, as i write this, i am move to say more. Much more.
Why is it that we destroy things? Why does man desire to break innocence to defile it? Why does that beast exist within humanity. I have asked this question again and again, every since i knew the beasts hands...maybe not the exact way as Madeline had, but similar...similarly painful. And i will, with all might, try to seek the answers. And may me continue to ask the question and know that it can never be justified.
It is vile, and like claws in the dark it creeps up here and there in our world, no matter how beautiful it may be.
RA, if i could truly say more i would go babbling. Thank you for putting this poem into this site. There is something in the air...for many of us seem to ask the same questions.
-iphios
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These are a stream of thoughts Alex. At times I feel that reallly good poetry can never come from thoughts that move us at our very core. I think this is one of those topics. And You did a much wonderful job at this then I could have ever attempted myself. The way you generalized child abuse to an overall extension of problem of beauty was quite worthy of applause. Having said that, it still felt slightly unstructured in flow. Maybe if you can think over it. I know I couldn't if I were in your place.
Anyways. A very moving write.
HM -
Excellent and hard to celebrate...
This is amazing stuff. I say "hard to celebrate" not because of any flaw in your writing but because it does such an effective job of drawing the heavy emotion out of the reader. You point is so valid and so powerful that standing and applauding this work would seem unnatural. Instead, a solen nod, a firm hand shake, and a sincere thank you would be more appropriate. It is a poem with a message that the world needs to hear and I am so glad you shared it with us. While it does not spark the desire for celebration in me, it does spark the desire to spread the message and work for change, and having such an effect on your reader is something very special. Great, great job with this piece.
language: 4, rhythm: 5, subject: 5, tone: 5, form: 4.
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I guess not everything can be celebrated, Mark...
and our lack of evoloution as regards our treatment of others is one of those areas. I am pleased this piece moved you, made you feel and think, and I am grateful for your close reading and kind words. I look forward to many more exchanges with you - best RA
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Such a deep write. Something that does need to be read by many in my opinion.
It is the saddest of things, that a child missing is used to sell more papers, shows etc etc.
Even sadder, childen are harmed in such ways , that you describe.
I was an iccocent child once and a grown man took advantage of my inoocence, he scared me for life in many ways. But he never took my will away from me.
No one , no matter what they do, could.
My favourite saying, I repeat to myself often is -- I AM WOMEN, HEAR ME ROAR. I do it to remind myself I am powerful and my past and the hurt it holds shall never weaken my desires to live and to be strong
I have so much respect for you, for writing this and sharing it.
I too loved Tori piece They all turned against her, I can see why it made you feel this needed to be made public
Welldone
Cindy
language: 5, rhythm: 5, subject: 5, tone: 5, form: 5.
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An Excellent Meditation
Alex, this is powerful and it is an excellent meditation on a dark and difficult subject which afflicts every level of our society. I love how it pulls no punches and drags us into a world of images most people would simply rather not face. Indeed perhaps 'denial' is a big part of the problem. When something is TRULY ugly, we'd rather not look. So we simply - don't. Most regrettable of all, kids pick up on that reticense to listen to them, or worse, experience adults' refusal to believe them, and feel abandoned or worse still, as your poem so eloquently points out, guilty. How horribly ironic. I wish I had an answer, beyond the obvious and ultimately unsatisfactory one involving meat-hooks for the monsters who perpetrate these hideous crimes. Criminals seem to have so many more rights than the innocent these days. And of course, that sells lots of newspapers too.
There can be hardly a family on the planet that has not been touched, to some extent, by the evil which took poor Madeleine. How womankind can ever forgive mankind for these atrocities is almost beyond me - but I thank God for it and it gives me hope for all of us somehow.
An excellent, thought-provoking write. Thank You for it. >W<
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No, we don't have the answer.... maybe we will
I do wish, W. we had the answer, but we don't. I keep hoping we will someday evolve past such things. At the moment it's all we can do to keep the topics and questions alive. I don't think it's just about men and women although women suffer from it a lot - but I too am glad we keep the dialogue open - thanks for your supportive and thoughtful comment. Best RA
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No, alex, no way can I venture an answer to the "mystery and...riddle" of this raging, poignant meditation on that eternal conflict, and often horror, between the beautiful and the beastly. Your poem brings up such powerful feelings about how the world of "brothers (and) others too" either want to conquer or envy the lovely - probably both, though I think its more the latter - that it eventually tries to destroy what it's attracted to. In my mind, this is the demon half of humans.
This poem, using little Madeline's debasement as a springboard for its mature woman's thoughts, is for me a stunning and amazing exploration into how women (even young gay men, if I may say so) are brutalized, sensationalized, then "tossed...like a sock with a hole..." - what a sharp, powerful image that is! And that deliberate pile-up of verbs in the fourth stanza just about took my breath away for a few seconds. Really skillful, confident writing there for me to sink my feelings into.
This is a poetic triumph of restrained anger, alex; I feel every word. Brava!
Lad -
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You are absoloutely right Lad...
it's not as simple as a gender issue, I was very interested in the piece "they all turned against her" which was an eloquent and incredibly I thought accurate picture from the inside of a scapegoating thing in which the target happened to be a young woman - but of course men, and young gay men in particular, can attract the kind of abuse ofpower I refer to here and she referred to in that piece. I so wish they/we didn't but I swear we're just like bloody chimpanzees, in certain fundamental ways not 1% evolved and maybe the chimps are more evolved than us. Gorillas seem to be but chimps are our nearest relatives.
Do you think we'll ever learn? I hae ma doots, as they'd say 'round these parts.
I deeply appreciate your words, my friend, thank-you. I just wish I hadn't had to write them but in doing so i worked through my own fears and feelings, which is never a bad thing. If we keep asking the questions in public maybe someday, in some Star Trek future these things will be behind us. BEst RA
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