a pillar of society

· by · in poetry, rhymes. ·


he blames his carnal sins on women’s vice
while nice he is to dogs and waiting wife
as knives his gold will cut their soul in halves
those paths the women took from girls to goods
from woods of innocence to fields of death
their breath once filled with roses smells like ash
the cash he pays their pimps can give them drugs
with slugs inside their brains they move to hell
and sell whatever he demands from them
their gems of girlish laughter slowly die
while high positions are reserved for him
they dim while he wins society’s games

Women forming a skull by Salvador Dali


Women forming a skull by Salvador Dali

An exercise in chained rhymes, I took it from Hedgewitch’s prompts which is brought up again in Real Toads today. I tried to keep almost to pentameter. The picture from Dali, inspired me to look at the inequality between the john and the prostitute… Also linked to Poetry Pantry
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January 26, 2014

25 responses to “a pillar of society”

  1. ugh. it always surprises me on some level the duplicity of others…how they can have a loving family on one hands and then be an abuser or a destroyer of other lives you know. i just dont understand how the two lives stay seperate within one body….

  2. those paths the women took from girl to goods
    from woods of innocence to fields of death…

    Excellent execution of chained rhyme in a poem that highlights the exploitation of women.

  3. We are sometimes shocked to discover what is holding up a “pillar of society”…let’s admit prostitution is a ghastly business, a living death.

  4. heavy. i hadn’t seen that photo by Dali before. i like how you set this up from the very first line, anchoring your reflection in duplicity and blame–appropriately so. thanks for not shying away from that.

  6. Strong poem here, Bjorn. How a person can have such a split in his personality that he can treat his wife and dogs so well but treat these girls as if they are ‘goods’ and watch them walk the way to hell, bolstered by the drugs he gives them, boggles my mind. I hope some day such a man will find his reward, one he deserves!!

  12. I have a friend – harvard educated lawyer, near top of her class, never worked a corporate day in her career but instead has worked tirelessly the past 20 years for imprisoned women, many of whom are sex-trade workers. to criminalize women in the trade is another example of the patriarchy imposing social control over individual decision making. when women have no power over even their own bodies, then systematic oppression naturally follows. powerful write, Bjorn ~

  14. “those paths the women took from girls to goods” – so powerful and tragic. “their gems of girlish laughter slowly die….” this poem has terrific impact. Thanks for shedding light on the topic.

  15. Dali needed lots of help in his attitude toward women, but here you use him well in illustrating “woman as commodity” for those who butcher for $$.

  22. You capture the hellishness of this topic very well…an important topic to give voice to Bjorn…thank you. Well done on the form, too…I didn’t even notice it. 🙂

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