Mise-en-Scène

And the gods will argue
and the father
will tell the daughter, look
you had such promise
and she will sit tall
facing him
as he drives disappointment
like a stake
but it will miss her heart
too full of intricacies,
too measured a hardness
to be mistaken
for coldness,
but wieldy like anvil
and hammer that shape metal
for hooves of horses,
running a full gallop
through her dreams.

Copyright © 2006 Gail Segal All rights reserved
from Chelsea
Reprinted by Verse Daily® with permission