Feste's Lute

Yesterday I started the morning with two fragments rolling around in my text drawer.

Piece 1:

A latent allure,
assured asides
muttered at hats
on brazen brims
a madam’s whim
implied.

And Piece 2:

Beneath the cut
is hoary bone,
swiveling teeth
and vulture beaks

Neither one seemed to want to go anywhere, content to sit and stagnate. When this happens, I start to think about shaking up my familiarity with the words involved. A few of you might have noticed that I occasionally use the cut-up tag. To do that I go to the Dada Poetry Generator and shove everything loose thing I have inside.

So this came out:

allure, whim implied. Beneath is teeth
allure, asides on a whim implied. and beaks
A asides muttered bone, swiveling
muttered on brazen madam’s the is vulture
latent allure, Beneath is vulture
A latent at a Beneath bone, teeth

Which, to me, already seems much more interesting. So I used the first two lines, editing to change it all to dialogue. Changing articles, subject/verb agreement, changing on to of, etc.

“Allure,”

a whim implied.
“Beneath its teeth, allure,”

an aside of a whim,

“and beaks.”

I love this because it reminds me of something a Skeksis might say. The voice becomes dark, especially when it is broken apart and adds “and beaks.”

Then I began chopping and reorganizing the next lines. “Muttering bone, swiveling muttered” is just the sort of repetition I love most (and really why I use the generator, to find what repetition has interesting emphasis). Originally, the bones would have muttered to (not on) brazen madams, but it seemed way too cliché, so boys instead. My favorite aspect of these last lines is the association of the vulture with allure. The smell of death, only attractive to certain types. Latent, like most desire… waiting for the right scent.

A asides muttered bone, swiveling
muttered on brazen madam’s the is vulture
latent allure, Beneath is vulture
A latent at a Beneath bone, teeth

The final product thrilled me, because of the interesting intersections of meaning. A whim is warning me. Why would I trust something so flighty as a whim, especially if it doesn’t come out and say it, but instead implies the danger? Next, why would I fear allure? As I learn that allure lies under teeth and rests with beaks, it makes more sense. Now, muttering bones warn youth of the danger. The allure in the form of a vulture latent beneath bone and teeth… I like the cadence, like the consonants’ compatibility, I like everything about it.

“Allure,” 

a whim implied.
“Beneath its teeth, allure,”

an aside of a whim,

“and beaks.”
Muttering bone,
swiveling muttered

to brazen boys,

“The vulture

is latent beneath…”
“…beneath the bone
and teeth.”

But I’m weird.