Today is open link night at dVerse Poets Pub, so I thought I would finish the poem I started for last week’s poetics prompt (Jan. 23): to write a prequel poem.
He’s Very Skilled at Knots
He was a happy boy until a train took his mother
His father in grief became distant but harsh
causing he and his father to clash nightly
and his eyes that had shown brightly
turned unsightly like smoldering ash
Neglected, he spent his days
roaming idly along the tracks
collecting rope and practicing knots
wishing his mother would come back
and yearning for someone, anyone
to love him
Until one day he happened upon
a shiny, new top hat and a tied up
young woman across his way
and in horror thought of his mother
when he heard the whistle
of an approaching train
He ran to the woman who screeched rather highly
while he tried to untie the ropes tied so tightly
while apologizing for his fingers politely
as she cursed him quite unkindly
and at the last second
he was shoved aside
by another do-gooder come to her aid
who was able to save her
and as he slinked off in shame
barely missed by the barreling train,
a piece of metal flew from the tracks
and gashed poor sad Snidely right in the lip
holding his torn lip together and bleeding
he couldn’t say anything when
the people who gathered
began to accuse him
and made him the villain
though he had only tried to help.
His lip didn’t heal well, leaving
him disfigured, so he grew a mustache
which he would tug and twist
whenever that day replayed
the last time he tried to get in the way
of a train, and now whenever he sees someone pretty
someone who could reject him and make him unloved
he preempts the pain and the oncoming shame
by placing her in the way of a train.
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Experience Writing 
What an engrossing write, Maria!
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Thank you.
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Maria, the character’s tragic backstory and the subtle exploration of his inner turmoil add a layer of complexity to your narrative, making it all the more compelling… Just wonderful!
~David
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Thank you.
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So compelling! One feels sorry for both Snidely and the women. Some people are stunted by their horrible early experiences.
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Thank you.
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Goodness me, what a dark tale. Skirting the line between comedy and gothica. Very well-written!
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Thank you.
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Oh my goodness!!! What an entertaining stream of consciousness story/poem….loved it!!!!
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Thank you.
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Ouch… that one way to become a villain… but I feel for those ladies…
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The title hooked me immediately, Maria, and the tragic beginning of this poor boy. If only someone had loved him and treated him better, he wouldn’t have become a villain.
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Thank you. Glad you liked it. Villains are the heroes of their own stories. 🙂
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Oh no! Poor ladies. They got killed as he put them in front of train?
Obsession is costly.
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Such a crappy way to begin life. Could he be anything but a villain?
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