Revenge, Pain and Regret

Chapter 9: Poetry Corner and Capture

The Mom

She got up like she did everyday.

Did the stuff that she did each day.

She didn't go out, but we loved her

Around so we didn't get sad and pout.

She cared for us three.

All the same, never differently.

One Two year old and two little

Baby girls.

Beautiful children born into a

beautiful world. Though there

were ugly things within and

underneath, that day was only

started with thoughts of beautiful

things.

The Mom made breakfast.

The Mom made the beds.

The two year old bustled her

And ate in her high chair while

The Mom got the two babies fed.

Other events happened but the

Point is most important at this

Time.

The point is that this Mom on

the same day of being so wonderful

and kind.

Attempted to kill her children by burning them alive.

Kara closed her book of poetry and went to sit down.

"That was…. interesting," the teacher said uncomfortably, "does anyone else have poetry that they've written themselves to share with the class?" she asked and the students shook their heads, "okay," she said, "who wants to read a poem that they found from a book, article or on the internet?" she asked and Mindy raised her hand.

"Mine is a Limerick," Mindy said proudly and stood to her feet, "a limerick is a sort of short poem used for humour and non-serious or dark things," she explained in her own way and the teacher sighed in relief, "my limerick is by Carolyn Wells," she said then came to the front of the class and read her poem.

A tutor who tooted the flute

Tried to teach two tutors to toot.

Said the two to the tutor,

"Is it harder to toot, or to tutor two tooters to toot?"

Several students clapped and Mindy smiled as she went back to her seat.

"Anyone else has something to read?" the teacher asked as she clapped the loudest, "Oh, Mandy," she said her happiness evaporating immediately after seeing Mandy's hand rise first, "please come forward."

Mandy got up and went to the front of the class.

"The poem that I'll be reading is by Emily Dickinson," Mandy stated, "is titled 'I like a look of Agony,'" she said and started to read it as nearly half the class (teacher as well) groaned.

I Like a Look of Agony

I like a look of Agony

Because I know it's true-

Men do not sham convulsion, nor simulate, a Throe-

The eyes that glaze one-and that is death-

Impossible to feign

The beads upon the forehead

By homely Anguish strung.

Kara clapped the moment Mandy completed the poem and most of the class looked at her in surprise since NO one else clapped.

"Emily Dickinson," Kara said, "a great poet who madewrote poetry beyond the minds of those of her time," she recalled, "I much more prefer her poem 'I died for beauty- but was scarce' however," she stated, "but I love this poem too," she finished.

"Do you expect a thank you?" Mandy asked coldly.

"No," Kara answered simply, "but we are allowed to comment after someone reads a poem," she reminded Mandy, :I was simply commending your selection."

Fine," Mandy responded coldly and went to sit down.

"Who else wants to read?" the teacher asked tensely, "Billy!" she squeaked the moment she noticed that Penny's hand started to rise.

Billy got up slowly and went to the front of the class. From the incident in the gym yesterday, he had been silent and solemn. Some students looked at him with concern; even Kara raised an eyebrow (NO Mandy and Janet showed no care or concern and Penny didn't give a Damn).

"I'm going to read the poem 'Richard Cory' by Edwin Arlington Robinson," Billy said softly, "it's a sad poem," he added and read the poem despite having difficulty pronouncing most of the words.

Richard Cory

Whenever Richard Cory went downtown,

We people on the pavement looked at him:

He was a gentleman from sole to crown,

Clean favoured, and imperially slim.

And he was always quietly arrayed,

And he was always human when he talked;

But still he fluttered pulses when he said,

"Good Morning," and he glittered when he talked.

And he was rich- yes, richer than a king-

And admirably schooled in every grace:

In fine, we thought that he was everything

To make us wish that we were in his place.

So on we worked, and waited for light,

And went without meat and cursed the bread;

And Richard Cory, one calm summer night,

Went home and put a bullet through his head.

Billy finished reading the poem and went to sit down. Mandy looked at him from the corner of her eye as most students (except Janet and Penny) looked at him with open concern.

"Okay," the teacher said slowly, "Penny?"

I'm not ready," Penny told her and it was obvious that she was upset about not being called earlier.

"I'll read mine," Janet said suddenly, "I have two actually," she added.

"I did say five students could do two didn't I?" the teacher said nervously, "well come on up," she said with an obviously fake grin, "anyone else with the choice of two?" she asked and looked crestfallen when Penny raised her hand. "at least she's the last one," she muttered as Janet came to stand at the front of the class.

"I have two poems," Janet said formally, "Reapers by the late Jean Toomer," she stated, "and 'Her Kind' by Anne Sexton," she said, "I'll read 'Reapers' first," she said and read it.

Reapers

Black Reapers with the sound of steel on stones

Are sharpening scythes. I see them place the homes

In their hip-pockets as a thing that's done,

And start their silent swinging, one by one.

Black horses drive a mower through the weeds,

And there, a field rat, startled, squealing bleeds,

His belly close to the ground. I see the blade,

Blood-stained continue cutting weeds and shade.

"I will now read 'Her Kind,'" Janet told the class and did so.

Her Kind

I have gone out, a possessed witch,

haunting the black air, braver at night;

dreaming evil, I have done my hitch

over the plain houses, light by light:

lonely thing, twelve fingered, out of mind.

A woman like that is not a woman, quite.

I have been her kind.

I have found warm caves in the woods,

filled them with skillets, carvings, shelves,

closets, silks, innumerable goods;

fixed the suppers for the worms and the elves:

whining, rearranging the disaligned.

A woman like that is misunderstood.

I have been her kind.

I have ridden in your cart, driver,

waved my nude arms at villagers going by,

learning the last bright routes, survivor

where your flames still bite my thigh

and my ribs crack where your wheels wind.

A woman like that is not ashamed to die.

I have been her kind.

Billy's hand suddenly went up in the air after Janet finished reading.

"Yes Billy?" Janet asked indifferently.

"Why did the rat in your poem have to die?" Billy asked.

"Firstly, it's not MY poem," Janet stated, "secondly I believe it's symbolic how one death can go unnoticed and people will simply continue their jobs and daily lives whether or not they know how close this one death is to them," she explained but Billy still looked confused, "the people in the poem didn't give a rats ass over a rat's death, okay!" she cried in annoyance and the class became dead quiet, "I apologize for the rude outburst," she said plainly and went to sit down.

Penny immediately got up and went to the front of the class.

"I'm going to read mine," Penny said happily and giggled then waved to Irwin who blushed ad waved back, "the first one is called 'Imperfect Paradise' by Linda Patson," she said and read it.

The Imperfect Paradise

If god had stopped work after the fifth day

with Eden full of vegetables and fruits,

If oak and lilac had exclusive saw

Over a kingdom made of stem and roots,

If landscape were genius of creation

And neither man nor serpent played a role

and God must look to the wind for lamentations

and not picture postcards of the soul,

Would he have rested on his bank of cloud

With nothing in the universe to lose,

or would he hunger for a human crowd?

Which would a wise and just creator choose:

The green hosannas of a budding leaf

or the strict contract between love and grief.

"Now I'll read 'Poem' by William Carlos Williams," she said and did so.

Poem

As the cat

climbed over

the to of

the jam closet

first the right forefoot

carefully

then the hind stepped down

into the pit of

the empty

flowerpot.

After she finished she gave a little wave to Irwin who blushed deeply.

"I dedicate this poem to Irwin," Penny said happily, "because he might be simple but he's also deep and full of something!" she shouted excitedly then hurried to her seat.

Full of Shit. (Penny's thoughts)

Penny now sat beside Irwin again and smiled at him and betted her eyelashes. Irwin swooned.

"That wasn't a poem!" a male student cried, "It was just an extended sentence."

"It's an extended sentence that happens to be good enough to be studied by Literature and English majoring students in University who study poetry," Janet countered for Penny, "so maybe it's more than an extended sentence for those whose brains are ADVANCED enough to know so," she snapped, "the poem 'Imperfect Paradise' was interesting Penny," she said turning her attention to her sister, "but I believe God has a reason for keeping humans around," she concluded.

"So do I," Kara said but her voice sounded defensive.

Penny simply shrugged and turned her attention back to Irwin.

This is so sad. That boy really thinks that Penny gives a damn about him. (Janet's thoughts)

Why can't she just leave him alone? Flirting and using an adult or teen is okay. But a little boy? She isn't even doing it to be funny. She's just wicked. (Kara's thoughts)

"Anyone wants to comment on any of the poems read today?" the teacher asked, "Yes Mandy?"

"Richard Cory is a suicidal poem," Mandy pointed out, "Richard killed himself because riches couldn't fill whatever emptiness he had in his life," she stated and the teacher nodded, "but why that poem Billy?" she asked.

"I was feeling depressed and had Dad help me search for depressing boys that involved people dying," Billy told her, "Dad was crept out when I chose that one," he added.

"I wonder why?" Mindy muttered.

"I'm going to dismiss you early," the teacher said suddenly, "Goodbye," she said happily and was out of the classroom before the students the students could even register what she had said.

"Hello," a voice said suddenly and Finesse entered the classroom cheerily, "I was allowed to come up by myself," she said happily.

"I wonder why," Kara said sarcastically and rolled her eyes.

"Don't be a damper!" Finesse cried, "anyway," she said, "Junior your mother wants you to come straight home after school," she stated and Junior nodded, "your teacher left you with almost fifteen minutes to spare," she observed, "which is great since I've come to take my beautiful nieces on a shopping spree," she added.

I'm in!" Penny cried and left a surprised Irwin as she appeared beside Aunt Finesse in a flash, "are you staying behind Janet?" she asked her sister.

"No," Janet answered simply and her sisters and Aunt looked shocked at that response, "home delivered clothes gets old," she explained with a shrug.

"Count me out," Kara said suddenly, "I'll have the store bring special selections for me to try on over the weekend," she said indifferently.

Janet, Penny, and Aunt Finesse's mouths fell to the floor.

"You don't want to shop?" Penny asked, "I'd understand if it was a simple item pick-up," she continued, "but you always come to the sprees."

"Let's just say I'm trying something new," Kara said.

"Let's go them," Aunt Finesse said with a sigh, "bye dear," she said and left with the other two.

Kara sat for nearly five minutes in which everyone left the classroom except Billy, Mandy and Sperg.

"Why are you staying Sperg?" Kara asked emotionlessly.

"Because I want answers," Sperg responded.

"To what?" Kara asked.

"You aren't humans," Sperg stated and Kara nodded, "what are you?"

"That's our business," Kara told him, "anymore questions?"

"Did Penny really make a girl from her ballet class go insane?" Sperg asked and Kara's face darkened.

"I won't say yes or no," Kara responded, "but if she did," she continued, "she did it alone," she said seriously.

"What's wrong with your other sister?" Sperg continued.

"There's NOTHING wrong with Janet," Kara snapped, "She has a condition," she almost snarled.

"What condition is that?" Mandy asked.

"You saw what happened to Sperg," Kara said, "you find a name for it," she challenged.

"She's dangerous," Sperg stated.

"I'm dangerous," Kara threatened.

"Why is Janet so different?" Billy asked suddenly.

"I don't know," Kara said with a shrug, "it happened the day after Penny left her dance class," she recalled.

"Which was the same evening she came to Billy's house," Mandy pointed out.

"What happened?" Kara asked and Mandy told her everything, "he said that about my MOTHER!" she exploded, "he is so DEAD!" she screamed.

"We haven't seem Grim since yesterday," Mandy told her, "do any of your sisters know about his disappearance?"

"I don't know," Kara admitted, "but you better pray that I don't find him if you still want your supernatural servant," she snarled.

"I must warn you," Mandy said, "I take people messing with my property very personally," she warned.

"I must threaten you," Kara responded, "I've killed humans for uttering bad stuff about my mother in their thoughts," she lied but made it seem the truth, "and I'll kill anyone who gets in the way of our plan," she said darkly.

"What plan is that?" Billy asked.

"To destroy and kill the Grim Reaper of course," Kara said simply.

"I'd love to see you try," a voice said suddenly, "Deirdre."

Everyone turned to the door to see the Grim Reaper standing there.

"NOW!" Kara cried out of the blue and suddenly Nergal appeared, grabbed Grim with his tentacles and disappeared with him (Grim) through the floor, "and to ensure that neither of YOU (she pointed at Mandy and Sperg) intervene," she said and her eyes suddenly glowed white and then she disappeared.

Sperg fell off his seats unconscious and Mandy suddenly screamed and covered her face.

"What's wrong?" Billy asked fearfully.

Mandy removed her hands from her face and Billy shrieked.

"She made me blind," Mandy told him in a tight voice.

Done.

Explanation of the Poetry

The Mom: This poem was to give readers a slight insight of what happened the day Dementia tried to burn her children to death and killed herself. But remember, that this poem's written in Kara's perspective. Note this for future chapters readers.

The Limerick: This just shows how Mindy isn't letting rumours, being beat up and strange stuff affect her. Or at least not showing it in the public eye.

I like a look of Agony- This is just to show that Mandy continued to remain her usual dark, cold and indifferent self.

Richard Cory: This is to show how much Billy's been affected since Janet showed him the images.

Reapers: Dementia is the rat in this Poem. The mower and the reapers symbolize the Grim Reaper as well as many of the gods who didn't really give a damn about her mother's death in Janet's opinion. Remember that this explanation is in Janet's perspective.

Her Kind: This is Janet describing how she knows what it's like to be an outsider and that she is. Also it shows that she knows that her mother wasn't apart of the proper spiritgoddess mould.

Imperfect Paradise: This gives readers an insight of Penny's thoughts of humans and mortals. Remember this reader for later chapters.

Poem: To show how simple Penny believes Irwin is (and I mean simple as in stupid).

Death's Soulmate: I hope to update by next week. Sorry for the long wait and please review.