Tuesday, September 21, 2010

can't change

I believe in transformation.
All things can be made new.
Repackaged and placed back
on the shelves
of God's General Store.

Converted and new
shrugging off old burdens,
a thick winter skin,
and living
lightly.

I believe in renewal,
swift and sharp
and wholesome,
yet I often find myself
wincing, and bracing for
the impact
of the fangs
on my back.

2 comments:

Chris Andrews said...

A leopard can't change its spots. I would like to do more with the last stanza. Although I do like the catlike swiftness of the switch. I also thinkthat it's a bit of a cop out.

Edward Yoo said...

The final stanza is actually my favorite. Maybe it's my own allure to all things vampiric, even Hugh Jackman's Van Helsing and Dracula 2000, but I think the allusion perfectly conveys this notion of rebirth, and the apprehension that comes before it.

Why did you decide to frame your ideas by qualifying them as your beliefs? I like this choice: I think it leaves room for alternate perspectives. It also reads as if the speaker is trying to convince and repeat the fact that this is his/her beliefs, similar to how Bishop does it in "One Art."