Pearlie Mae Fur

 

Pearlie Mae Fur

 

(small town murder)

 

She loved to swim at the water's edge.

where she would emerge with

drops of chastity rolling from her back

into the river where she left them

 in a heap

with her clothing

It was 1965 & she was far too alive

for the men that loved her, the women

that despised,

her small steel hands

that took what they wanted

And she would not wear

a neat skirt, a shell top, a sheep's fashion

Always blowsy, in a colorful flow

& a man's hat & no go-gos but small

brogans or in summer nothing at all

She gulped whiskey & struck out

with her fists folded into hard knuckles

& her eyes hot

 blue opium

in a dove of determination

Her lips were beautiful & vulgar,

which in the end was a downfall,

a final insult to the men,

that took her to the river,

in a small boat.

She did not perform well on water.

It took three men,

 to throw her,

cursing, raging into the river

Three men to beat her with an oar

back into the water,

where she finally sank in exhaustion,

her hands clawing blue canvas

until the sky sank.

 

 

 

 

Reviews

[We are young.]

wow that is so sad, but good. I like poems that can capture emotion.

[holly]

Wonderful, perfect in tone for delivering the beauty of non-conformance and the fatality of it, and the horror, and all I was left with was outrage. So professional, so perfect (there's that word again).

[Neva Bryan]

I like this very much.

"She loved to swim at the water's edge.where she would emerge withdrops of chastity rolling from her back" . . . that line made me blink. Very original and such a wicked story told in such a lovely way.

[W.k.kortas]

Again, this is another departure for you, especially in terms of style--it's quite a bit more straight-ahead than is your norm, but it's no less of a piece because of that. The narrative is clean and moves ahead strongly, and it's at turns humorous (e.g., "She did not perform well on water") and stark, the imagery is strong and vivid (the last two lines are especially excellent). A very impressive piece of work.