Monday, September 25, 2006

Catherine and the Pirate

Catherine and the Pirate

There's many a tale that's told or sung
Upon the salt sea air
But none can match the ballad here
Of sweet Catherine and her pirate fair
For they did sail the fickle sea
With a lusty breeze in their hair

Sweet Catherine left her father's house
His belt and fist to flee
And she did dress in man's array
And steal away to sea
She left upon a merchant's ship
And so a man was she

The Captain was a bonny man
And kept his charges well
So he kept sweet Catherine
Upon the oily swell
Never thought he his cabin lad
Could hide himself so well

They sailed the bounding salt-drenched sea
Until they reached the shore
And there at last they made their port
There to heal their briny sores
And sweet Catherine, still she vowed
To hide her sex forevermore

Within the night it silent came
A great black ship of ragged sail
Captain'd by the pirate maid
Jessica, who made babes wail
And there within that silent port
The Captain brave fled and turned tail

Within that night the raiders struck
And they struck hard and fast
They burned the sails and took the men
In chains they held them fast
But still bold Catherine fought hard and true
And held out to the last

Proud Jessica strode 'cross the deck
Her eyes and torch alight
She chopped the rigging ropes straight through
As all gave in with out a fight
But still Catherine fought long and hard
All through the vicious night

Sweet Catherine's strong arms grew weak
and she began to fall
And she cried out to the last few
"Dear friends, please bear my pall,
Dear friends please bear me out to sea
And there to let me fall!"

But Jessica bore down on her
With fire in her eyes
And the pirate maid did bind her up
In chains beneath the skies
And she took her to the brigand's ship
Ignoring all her cries

Jessica did cry to her crew
"We have another man,
But still his pretty face belies
The duties of a sailing man
And still his beardless chin is smooth
I doubt that he shall prove a man!"

Bold Catherine stood tall in chains
And faced her captors well
"I am still yet a man, good sirs
Upon this oily swell,
And upon the sainted lands
No secret must I tell!"

She was unchained and thrown below
Her duties to attend
And there she stayed til fall of night
When Jessica did descend
She spoke to Catherine plain and true
"Your conduct must you mend."

"What conduct, lass, have I shown?
What claim have you to me?
For you have killed all that I loved
Upon this bloody sea
And still you hold me here below
As a prisoner here to thee."

Proud Jessica looked in her eyes
And saw that she spoke true
She took sweet Catherine's hands in hers
"Tell me your story, and tell it true.
For here am I, the captain bold
Held in thrall to you

So Catherine did tell her tale,
And she did speak it true
And told she then her secret dark
To Jessica's eyes so blue
Said she "now am I come to a pirate ship,
To tell this tale to you."

They sat there through the boundless night
Alone, but for the sea
Catherine did show her sex
For the pirate maid to see
And Jessica did hold her close
As she wept another sea

Through the vicious night they stayed
Within each other's arms
For Catherine the bold of heart
Was helpless to the pirate's charms
And proud Jessica the pirate lass
Melted in the maiden's arms

Within that creaking hold they lay
Like a woman and a man
But still sweet Catherine was a maid
And Jessica no man
But still she said to her sweet love
"I need no other man,

For I could love the breast of a man
And kiss his two lips red
And I could hold him through the night
And take him to my bed
But still, no man could love me so
Be he living or dead"

And Catherine spoke to her pirate maid
"Desert you could I never
For I am yours and you are mine
Body and soul forever
And I shall hold you with love's close bonds
That no cold steel can sever"

There they lay til light of day
When the alarm was rung
That close at hand was a navy ship
And all aboard could be hung
They readied every cannon
And loaded every gun

The navy ship it bore down fast
Upon the brigand's sails
And still they fought it long and true
And not a heart did quail
And still they fought their assailants there
With no hope to prevail

Proud Jessica leapt to the bow
And brandished a flaming sword
But then came a burst from the mighty cannon
And she fell without a word
She fell to the deck of the frigate ship
And gasped her final words

"Sweet Catherine dear, my only love
Remember me, I beg
Speak of me in quiet tongues
As I am a woman, this I beg
Of you, speak true of me"
And then she sank onto the deck

Bold Catherine let out a harrowed cry
And through the fray she flew
And she did kiss her Jessica
Her lips of red and eyes of blue
And as she lay there in the smoke
She knew her maid was true

There upon the smoky ship
She took her lover's knife
And with it pierced her manly coat
And the flesh of no man's wife
And there she cut out her own heart
To end her youthful life

So speak not of lovers with broken hearts
And those who cry for love
Speak not of those who are lonely
As the orphaned turtle dove
For this is the story of Catherine bold
And how she lost her life and love.

Monday, September 04, 2006

Untitled

Untitled

I haven't lived that long
And yet I feel like dying
Every time I reach out to someone
My touch makes them bleed
And leaves me bleeding too

All I can do is make you hurt
If I ever was your friend
Please forgive me the wounds I gave you
That I would bear to take your pain away
If I could

What can I do to deserve your forgiveness
For I said too much
And stabbed us both through the heart
With my own fear and idiocy

Do you want me to forget?
If you ask it of me I will
If I forget can you forgive, querida?

Sunday, September 03, 2006

The Needles Sequence

The Needles Sequence

Needles

I am your cloth
As you sew me to the ground
You stick the needles in
And hold me still

You watch the lust rising in my eyes
You stare me into submission
And pierce my eyes
With your own
As you pierce my skin
With your needles

You push them gently into my throat
And stifle my cries of protest
Needles sinking deeper
I feel them in my heart
Pressing against my face
In voluptuous suffering

You hold my arms
And penetrate my pale skin
With your needles
Always there
When my heart beats
I feel their points
Pressing harder

I study the scars
And see your face in every one
In every drop of blood
I see your laughing
Cruel eyes

Eyes that threaten
And entice me
Towards your needles
Needles

***

Rag Doll

Rag doll
Falling apart
Rag doll
Wit your ragged heart

Come fray in my arms
Let me sew you back together
Come let me mend you
For now and forever

Rag doll
With your gaping wide eyes
Rag doll
With your disintegrating sighs

Will you submit to my needle
Will you let me sew you down
Will you let me pin your arms back
While I stitch away your frown?

Rag doll
With your tender cloth smiles
Rag doll
With your ragged button wiles

Come crumble at my touch
Let me rebuild your fragile frame
Come let me pierce you
Until you forget your life and name

Rag doll
With your innocent rips
Rag doll
While within you
My silent needles
Slip

***

The Heartbeat

You're holding me
And pushing your talons in
You're whispering to me
That it won't hurt
When you sink them deeper

You hurt me
When you hold me close
But I don't care anymore
You tell me you need me
But only as a rag doll
That you pierce endlessly
With your blessed
Accursed needles

I contemplate the scars on my chest
After you have fallen asleep
And you trace your fingers along them
As you thrash about in a sullen nightmare
That I can't stop

I can't stop your pain
Except with my own
So I hold you tight while you sever my veins
And push the needles deeper
Nobody
Nobody would scream
If they knew you like I do

If they knew
They would bear the needles

My demonic seamstress
I love you
I am your rag doll
Sew me back together
And I'll hold your heart awhile longer

***

The Seamstress Love Song

Fade to black, my only one
Don't look back, my lonely one
Don't think about them, my ragged toy
Just sleep with me, dear whipping boy

Let your heavy eyelids fall
Only I can bear your pall
Only I can pierce your skin
Ragged child, let me in

Sleep here gently in my grasp
While I gush venom like an asp
Let me poison you to sleep
Let my fangs sink in you deep

You run your hands across my wounds
You say you wonder when, how soon
Will I have another one
Another stitch that frays, undone

Cling to me throughout the night
Together, all can now be right
Only if the stitches hold
Only if the steel is cold

Let your ragged breathing halt
Forget your worldly tears and faults
Let me stitch your limbs back on
Let the thread run on and on

Let our flesh be sewn as one
Let the knots be not undone
Let my needles hold you tight
Forget the day, forget the night

Hold me close and stitch my heart
Let the threads not end or start
Pull the stitches tight and strong
When wrong is right, and right is wrong

***

Drifting Away

Will you hold me one last time
As you drift into your swirling mire
Can you whisper in my ear
That it'll be alright

I tried so hard to keep my stitches in
I tried not to let you see me cry
But when the last song played through the old radio
I lost my grip
And spewed my innards across your needly gaze
You walked away
And left me there
Writhing in the stuffing
Afraid to sew myself back together
Hoping you would come back

To make me your rag doll again
Your cringing puppet
bending and dancing on command

I tried so hard to hold you up when my legs caved under me
I tried so hard
But I couldn't let you pick out your stitches
And open the wounds again
You were drifting away from me
Your threads dragging as you danced madly
In the debauched streets
And I watched you and cried
Tears from my button eyes
Splattered on the dirty pavement
As you danced away
Trailing my strings behind you

***
Stitch By Stitch

Stitch by stitch
Inch by inch
You sew my limbs back on
The thread quavers as you draw breath
And plunge the needle once more through my skin
I breathe as you stick the needles in
Sharp gasps punctuating my sighs
I love you and you hurt me
But I would rather have you torture me
Than suffer the sorrows in your head

Stitch by stitch
Inch by inch
You pull me back together
I forget how my flesh tore in the first place
Whether it was you
Who tore through my fragile seams
Or if I rent them in a fit of passion
Fraying my own edges
And breaking the threads that hold my eyes on

Stitch by stitch
Inch by inch
I let you tear me apart again
So your screams don't rend the world in twain
As you sink your talons deep
Your sensuous needles pricking my heart
I remember how much I need you
And how much you need me
We love each other
The seamstress and the rag doll

Stitched together by fate
We shall never part as the threads pull tighter

***
Let Go

Can you hide under the stars any longer?
Does your pain make you stronger?
Do the needles hurt
When you push them in?
Can you let me hold you
Without the needles?
Do you really need them
Like I need you?

Are they all you are to me
To you?
Will they hold you through the boundless night
While you scream in agony
Clawing at my stitches in misguided wrath
I will never hurt you
My stitcher of rag dolls
How many more like me
Will you tear to pieces as the needles bite deeper?

Do you really care?
Or am I just another whipping boy
Just another empty puppet
Cringing on your lap like a ragged toy
My hands sewn on forcefully
With no mercy

My mender
I love you
But can the needles love you like I do?
How much longer will I bear their points
While you scream in
Agony
That deludes itself with paintings of ecstasy
Like the ones in my button eyes

***
The Seamstress' Remorse

For time immemorial I have sewn you back together
After I tore out your stitches
And flung you, bleeding to the drunken streets
And you always came back
Always wiped my tears as I wept for what I had done to you
You whispered in my ear that I was forgiven
Why?

There's a sort of pain reflecting in your eyes when you look at me
I don't know how many times I've sewn them back on
You couldn't see how much I wept in shame
That I had hurt you so much
And still you came back
Blind and bleeding you came back
and I sewed you back together
Wracked with guilt at what I'd done to you
I never meant to hurt you
I loved you
But the needles were stronger
I'd needed them so long
Their biting song
Their whispered double entendres
So unlike your ragged honesty
And your thread smile
So gentle that you could never hurt another
Like me

There's a sort of bitter love reflected at me through your black eyes
A reverent denial and dependance
Defying those who cal you my puppet
And me a cruel and vicious mistress
You hold me tightly
Threadbare hands clutching at my waist and shoulders
When I tear you into pieces
And stitch you back together
One last time

***

For Daws To Peck At

Your eyes have fallen off again
Threads still clinging to them as they roll across the floor
Stopping at my feet
Your unconscious eye-less face
Turns to me in an unspoken prayer

I pick up your eyes
And take your hands in mine
Before I pierce your face
Sewing, sobbing as you writhe, still asleep in my arms
And my tears fall into the holes, stinging you

Your heart is bleeding in my hands
Beating still
Outside your tattered body
I sew the veins together
Stopping the flow of blood over my alabaster hands
But not the tears streaming down my stony face

You lie, peaceful at last
Your button eyes sewn shut
As I stitch your chest back together
And the seam blends with the others my affections have left you with
Over much too long a time

Your heart is still pulsing as I sew it to my sleeve
I cannot ask you to bear it anymore
And daws shall peck at it until I forget you
And on

Goodbye, my ragdoll
Goodbye

Saturday, September 02, 2006

Deviant Art

http://andre-the-spider.deviantart.com/

Photography, poems, comics, eventually drawings once I can scan them.