They say we’re friends.
But I watch in silence
As they make plans around me
Without me
They say we’re friends
Yet I remain invisible
Responses
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I just had a weird idea. I’m struggling with the realities of how women’s voices get filtered through men who control communication channels and thinking about your voice. It is appealing. I want it and I’m sure others would want to dress themselves up in it to make themselves look deep and thoughtful. But voices like yours don’t go far when people can’t tie them to larger story – something real.
They would want to know what real events inspired the poems, but that may be too intrusive and exposing. One way to avoid that exposure would be to make your poems represent the voice of a fictional character.
In my second novel, I introduced three characters: Mr. Randall, Mr. Randall’s first wife, and Mr. Randall’s second wife. None of these characters are truly good people, but I’ve tried to give them several dimensions. Mr. Randall’s first wife tries to make the best of a bad situation with a difficult, abusive husband who drives her into a pit of depression through his selfishness. The second Mrs. Randall is naive and the more she learns about the man she chose to marry, the more difficult it is for her to maintain sanity. She literally has parts of her memory erased in order to deal with this dissonance, but this isn’t revealed in the second novel. This is only revealed in the third novel (which is a work in progress).
When I read your poems, I picture Mr. Randall’s first wife. She has focused her love on an ideal rather than on the man who hurt her for so long, yet the ideal and the reality are still somewhat mixed for her. Through her poetry, she struggles to disentangle them and resolve the dissonance which has caused her depression.
This is why I’d like to throw out this impossible idea: would you like to publish your poems as: ‘The poetry of Mr. Randall’s first wife’ as channeled by Magic Mage. After having my work stolen by men and seeing another woman in danger of having the same thing happen to her, I wondered if there was a way for women to bypass the men who steal our voices. I’m in the process of building an authorial brand and an entire, parallel world really. I have no guarantee of success, but through what may turn out to have been an ingenious scheme or a dirty, stupid theft there appear to be some paths open that are not open to other authors.
It just seems that the women should get to decide how the story ends rather than the men. I know that all women know who butters their bread, so this sort of collaboration rarely happens, but sometimes providing an example for other women can set good things in motion. (It might be good to delete this comment.)LikeLike
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You seem like a talented writer, and I appreciate your interest. I’d want to talk to you more before publishing anything, just so I can get to know you and know you’re not just a random person. 😅 I hope you understand. My email is b.llywelyn@outlook.com feel free to contact me there. 😁 Have a wonderful day.
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I’m also exploring the idea of fibromyalgia as an inability to forget painful sensations. Crystalized memories that just won’t break down like they should. Forgetting and Forgiveness are the central themes in all of my novels.
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Elucidating Questions 
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