Killing Pretty Things

I killed something pretty today by accident.

We always kill the pretty things
Number them up
In little glass jars
And put them on display

You were a pretty thing
And I needed you on a shelf
So I killed you
Ever so gently, believe me

It was almost easy
Control just a little too much
Cut out just enough
To fit you in that little jar

But the sun bleached out your color
And the bit I cut off turned out to be important
I really meant well
Most things look good in a jar.

I moved you to the back
The place jars go
Before they're taken off the shelf
You're nearly there

Its what we've always done
What we'll always do
With pretty things
And little glass jars.

Theres always something new
... Oh, you're a pretty thing
Trust me this jar
It really suits you

Reviews

[Elwyn]

YO, so if you've never read "A Work of Artifice" by Marge Piercy, you seriously need to and then we have to have one of those underground poetry discussions about it.

This poem is really (or could be really) similar to that one. I interpreted it as a metaphor for relationships... that "dating" is more about owning someone and keeping them in a glass jar to showcase rather than letting them grown and become a person with more substance. Sometimes confines kill people.

You've been slaying the poetry game of late.

[jacob erin-cilberto]

most things look pretty in a jar...but when we trap him or her that way...that prettiness fades quickly...we ruin a good thing by holding on to it too hard.

lots could be read into this poem...which is exactly what makes it so formidable as a write.

love it.

j.

[Julia Ledo]

Thank you for the words Jacob. Thats exactly what I hoped to express.