Captured in a nightmare’s night
four by four, legs and arms, entwined
preying on and praying for an end
a cul-de-sac an empty sack
steel away your marble eggs
midnight bliss births a poison kiss.

Spin your web, Mother may i, may i not.

Captured in an imagination box
tourists take and travelers see
a children’s set where lovers met
sculpture here a background there
a dialogue silenced set in place
mythology played, hubris displayed
his-story saved, a daughter’s story
are you art, artifact, or fact of life?

Spin your web, Mother may i, may i not.

Take your lyre and sing me an ode
tell me tales of tapestries old
catch mosquitoes from the air
save my body, blood and soul
kiss the chocolate from my face
wrap me in a Sunday dress.

Spin your web, Mother may i, may i not.

∞

Poem and photo are dually submitted as part this Week’s Photo Challenge: Security and as part of “National Poetry Writing Month – 2017” (#NaPoWriMo2017). Today’s poetry prompt: write a “Bop.” The Bop is a kind of combination sonnet + song. Like a Shakespearean sonnet, it introduces, discusses, and then solves (or fails to solve) a problem. Like a song, it relies on refrains and repetition. In the basic Bop poem, a six-line stanza introduces the problem, and is followed by a one-line refrain. The next, eight-line stanza discusses and develops the problem, and is again followed by the one-line refrain. Then, another six-line stanza resolves or concludes the problem, and is again followed by the refrain.