Walked past this house recently. North of Gerrard E, top of Leslie. I particularly like the astronaut – lighting wasn’t right for a decent pic & flash washed everything out.









Walked past this house recently. North of Gerrard E, top of Leslie. I particularly like the astronaut – lighting wasn’t right for a decent pic & flash washed everything out.
For the summer I’m going back to the series of pieces mythologizing my growing up in Cape Breton. Check the Village Stories page http://wp.me/P1RtxU-1fT for links previous pieces in this series posted in July/August 2014, July/August 2015
The Love Spell
near the edge of the Whistling Woods
lived an ugly old woman
she had two daughters
Cashmere and Coral
the prettiest girls in our school
it was fun for the choir boys to maltreat them
following them home humming loudly
or whispering the words
to whatever song
we were learning in choir practice
their mother was very old
too old for fish scales one of the boys said
we thought she was some sort of witch
and would would rush off
before she could enchant us
into falling in love with her daughters
one summer a package
came to our house by mistake
it was meant for the witch
our street names were very similar
we lived on Maple Lane
she lived on Willow Laneway
I was given the task of taking
the package to her house
with it in the particle carrier
of my fire engine red CCM flyer
rode there as slow as I could
humming and whispering
to keep up my courage
a thunder storm began as I got there
she bade me come inside
the house was neat as pin
up close she wasn’t as old as I had thought
I told her we all thought
she was a witch and she laughed
‘you can’t hide the truth – right my boy’
I gave her the package
she tried to give me money
which I refused
cookies – which I refused
finally she offered me a love spell
guaranteed to bind the love
of whomever I wanted to me
all I had to do
was steal butter from my mother
then get the object of my affection
to steal some butter from their mother
then spread the butter
on the backs of one another knees
before making love
I was to tell no one about this spell
not even the one I wanted to love me
they had to do it willingly
without question
I have never used this spell
the last man who let me undress him
whom I wanted to bind to me forever
had no mother
she had died years ago
I did steal some butter from my mother
while she wasted away with consumption
I keep it safe in my freezer
for the time
when I doubt what my heart can do
The Love Spell is one of the more ‘traditional’ mythologic pieces in this series. I play on fairy tale witch myth heavily. The tormenting girls was something done innocently enough when I was a boy – singing & joking to get their attention was considered playful fun – today, of course, children who engage in such play are labeled & criminalized.
The rumour that some old lady was a witch runs through so many childhood recollections & facing her for some reason – broken window – is nearly a cliche. The ‘old’ lady often proved be in her early 40’s as well, so agism starts young.
What was in the package? A plot ploy 🙂 If I do a major rewrite of this piece I’d mention the contents as well give some of the hymn lyrics those mean boys whispered to the sisters. I always wanted a fire engine red bike – the one I had was more burgundy than red.Was she really a witch? Even her confession is suspect. The refusals of first offered rewards are also a fairly tale trope as our hero forces the witch to give him what he really wants – power – the love spell. I had lots of fun creating this absurd spell. In myth the stealing of something as part of the spell is standard – a lock of hair usually – then it gets even crazier as I give it my own spin. I picked butter because it was so mundane.
The piece becomes one of longing – the need for a love spell is a kind of longing itself. My hero clearly believes in the power of that spell – in the way we all fear that our ability to love may not prove to be enough power to bring us the love we want.
on going 🙂 when new podcast are posted: Deliciously iTunes
August 12: Justify My Love:
http://www.deliciouslydisabled.org/deliciously-disabled-party-2016.html
September 1-4: attending FanExpo 2016 (I’ve already registered)
https://www.facebook.com/fanexpocanada/?fref=ts
November 1 – 30 Participating NaNoWriMo
June 2-4: attending: Capturing Fire 2017 –
check out these poets from Capturing Fire 2015: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCx5KD1eDccdjdTdQ28kZRNg
Hey! Now you can give me $$$ to defray blog fees & buy coffee in Washington – sweet,eh? paypal.me/TOpoet
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Poetry and Short Prose by Gabriela Marie Milton 2019 Author of the Year at Spillwords Press and Author of Passions: Love Poems and Other Writings
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