Hell Hath No Fury...

For this week's Poetry Thursday post, I was inspired by Patricia Smith's Hip-Hop Ghazal, which appears in the current issue of Poetry magazine. I think she really captured the flavor of the music, in a traditional form. So, I applied the ghazal form to the music I listen to, angry alternative chicks like Ani DiFranco, Regina Spektor, Tori Amos, and the like. Enjoy!


What My Song List Tells Me

Anger echoing off fret boards, thick with scorn and unsung rage,
her lyrics like my teenage diaries, torn from unsung rage.

Voices plaintive as breaking plates, echo off our earphones while
we walk for miles. Even our shoe soles are worn from unsung rage.

Every man a mystery, an anonymous stranger or
long lost daddy, leaving us roses, thorns tipped with unsung rage.

Every night is Friday night, every fight a catastrophe.
We keen alone in broken basements, dreams borne from unsung rage.

What else are we to do with this, our broken fingernails and
calloused hands? Girl, pick up your guitar, perform your unsung rage.

Outside your song tracks and flashbacks, your life is now quiet,
you once wore spite like a spiked choker – mourn your lost unsung rage.