Dear Hoodoo

Written for my writing workshop, where we were working on "constrained writing" (as in Oulipo). Here you had to pick a word, come up with a list of related words that did not share letters with the first, and write a postcard to the word.

Dear Hoodoo:

 

I saw the slinky gypsy queen who dances up the riverbank,

twisting in hot New Orleans summer.  You, who adorned

your brown face with red jewels, who sat eating pecan

pie—you watched as her bangles and bracelets sank her

down into the water, an electric eel who couldn’t swim.

The stars saw your smile and they felt it, green,

mean, straight out of a villain’s movie scene.  You are

fake, a puppet, a wish-you-were mouthpiece for your

gods—a false priestess.  The real one is dead.  You

drowned her and watched, passive, as she sang out

for mercy—and after all your talk, you gave her none.

Her tangled bun is weighed down by rocks and everything

in creation knows it is your fault.  Still you laugh and

rock in your chair on the river, and eat your pecan pie,

and even as others mourn, you feel nothing at all.

Reviews

[jessfoundwonder]

I can see why you win awards.
this is exactly the way i want to write.
Have you ever listened to Motion City Soundtrack. You must have, they're great. But your writing reminds me of their lyrics. A strange randomness that flows together perfectly and keeps people interested.

[ALifeAquatic]

I agree with the other comments this is a really striking piece of writing, it's clever and it has more to it than the first reading suggests, I've read it a few times now and it keeps getting better.

[H]

Really striking piece. I like the "electric eel who couldn't swim" bit.