Poem: Gemini
Michele Slatter returns to the topic of masks and the different faces we present in this week’s Poet’s Corner.
Gemini
I am the good mother,
the bushfire survivor ‒ don’t mean to be a bother ‒
the jolly volunteer,
the sympathetic ear.
Organised and prompt,
I’m always where you want
and need me: I am here.
I am the angry child,
recalcitrant and bold ‒ the one who never smiled.
The bully and the slouch
potato on the couch.
Your unprofessional friend,
a woman at wit’s end,
a liar, cheat and grouch.
What face to wear today?
Saint, sinner, friend or foe? My choice? Or can we say
the moon’s to blame?
Or parents? All the same
I’d really like to see
if one of these is me.
Or are they all a game?
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“You’re Gemini! Of course!
Two faces, twins, the poles. You must expect the force
Of all worlds, good and bad
The happy and the sad
The open and the closed
The frantic and the posed
To manifest like mad.”
‘Like mad’. “Like ‘mad’?” I hear you ask.
No, merely human, under all the masks.
Michele Slatter lives in Adelaide. Educated at Durham University and University College London, she is a semi-retired law academic who has written extensively in her professional life and continues to undertake consultancy and research. Now, however, she also has time for the adventure of writing, both prose and poetry, purely for enjoyment. She is a member of several active writers’ groups, online and face-to-face, and regularly reads at Friendly Street Poets. Her poem Masquerades featured in last week’s Poet’s Corner.
Readers’ original and unpublished poems of up to 40 lines can be emailed, with postal address, to [email protected]. Submissions should be in the body of the email, not as attachments. A poetry book will be awarded to each accepted contributor.