Imprisoned
Now is not the time
for my fettered titanium lines—
no time for me to claim
I know a thing or two about life
as if I were anyone’s keeper…
A “suicidally depressed” convict doing life for murder
petitioned my psychotherapist friend to treat him:
& so it was that with all the detached generosity
a wife & mother of three could muster she rendered
a diagnosis of anti-social personality disorder
even as his icy eyes ignited in her a germ of lust
that razed every trace of her in a sudden flush
Now is really not the time for idle moralizing
about prisoners or locks & keys as if
there were any kind of justice in poetry
It’s not the time for tying up loose ends
saving pennies for rainy days or chrysalizing
our wrinkly little walnut meats to pupate belief
in the virtue of counting the hours
Now the dragon is awake
blinking in the daylight of withering dreams
wagging her head in a gnashing rage
STEPHANIE L. HARPER
“Imprisoned” was first published in issue IV of Claudius Speaks in October 2017, and is included in my chapbook, This Being Done, released on July 6, 2018, and now available on Amazon.
SLHARPERPOETRY 
I love that you leave us with the dragon! How powerful that is – your words command my attention more than many others out there! Thanks, Stephanie.
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Thank you, dear Lynne. You know, that dragon has been returning more and more often lately…
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Wow! You are a master…daring to tread into the dark places. Bravo!
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Thank you, V. J., I appreciate your words.
There is no darkness, but that which is defined by the light.
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I am making my way through This Being Done & picking up on the themes; ideas are beginning to constellate. It is slow but it is happening.
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😊
Nothing seems slow compared to what it takes for me to process poetic input. I just hope that you find the effort rewarding as you go along, and I appreciate your engagement to whatever degree works for you. Thanks, Daniel!
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Close reading with the intention of writing on the thing read always pushes the synapses to fire a bit better. I sometimes fail to begin because I am still terrified nothing will come as if there is a timer in my brain that will ring one day the collapse of my mind. Daftness, sheer daftness on my part.
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Perfectionism is not for the faint of heart, I tell ya… 😉
Lol
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I love the last lines with the dragon. Perfect imagery!
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Thank you, Jaya!
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