"Unholy Masquerade" (Violence)

[blueinferno07]

Love and Desperation came hand in hand to the masquerade.
Desperation color coordinated his tie with Love’s baby blue dress
and hand crafted her mask.
Desperation was good with his hands.
He was malleable, manipulable, and able to craft fine masks.
The skill had seemed pointless until that night.

Love’s chocolate brown eyes almost glowed beneath the black and grey of the mask.
Her nails were white with French tips,
her hair flowed in auburn waves,
her lips shown crimson red with Desperation’s own blood.
Love was mysterious and fickle
and happened to be the only woman with a face
that could properly support Desperation’s fine masks.
She had never wanted them until that night.

As the two stood beneath the crystal chandelier
everyone who danced in silence moved with grace to open the floor.
They watched with fascination as Love and Desperation began to dance the most elegant waltz.

As the music swelled to a crescendo,
Love pulled a bobby pin out of her hair
and plunged it into Desperation’s throat.

He fell to the ground, choking and bleeding.
Love knelt beside him and placed her fingers on his wound.
She rubbed his blood into the dimples of her cheek
and held onto his hand in earnest.
Desperation’s consciousness was fading,
but Love was not done dancing.

Not one to disappoint,
Desperation reached violently into his arm
and pulled out his veins.
Love pulled him up like a marionette
and tossed his veins over the crystal chandelier.
She pulled and Desperation danced.

The music faded
to the lonely sound of a single harpsichord.
Desperation smiled through his pain
and focused on Love's eyes.
She wrapped her arms around his waist
and embraced him tenderly, resting her heavy head
upon his weakened shoulder.

Desperation nuzzled into her hair,
breathed in her scent.
When he finally stopped breathing
and hung limp from the chandelier,
the crowd could almost swear they saw Love shed a tear
falling to her knees.

Another masked man came and placed his hand on Love's shoulder.
He thought he heard her whisper:
"What have I done?"

[musie]

blueinferno~WoW! This was bloody good! For some reason it reminded me of "Phantom of the Opera" have no idea why....the imagery in this piece made for a powerful impact let alone the emotion of the character's "Love and Desperation" a really FINE piece of work with both the formatting of it as well as the Character build....I would be hard pressed to chose a favorite stanza in this piece, because they were all just enthralling...what a tale....EXALT! Musie

[Chelle]

i love the personification and the symbolism here. you wove the story together and I never knew what was coming. Storytelling here was on par definitely and I am so glad to read something else by you Tab. LOVE LOVE LOVE

[albatoss]

Top notch poem. The imagery is fantastic.

[blueinferno07]

Thank you all for reading :)

[tangerinepie]

Hi, I must say how gripping this poem was, yes operatic in it's drama and charm.It is wonderful to read something so different, and I so appreciated the care you took to make this work so well..Totally awesome..Tangie..

[LorettaYoung]

Cogratulations; the intertwining images of love and desperation were incredibly moving; what a wonderful inspirational idea to pair them this way; captivating read, Loretta

[allmirth]

Vivid, intense and compelling.I find the close particularly telling. Congratulations on the Spotlight

Thanks much for sharing.
Mirthy

[potentialpoet]

This one is hard to get my mind around. There is a strong contrast between the fantasy-like, almost mythic-sounding language of the early poem, and the brutal violence of the latter part, both the literal violence of his murder, etc. and the violence done "in the name of Love." (Warning: Sounds good, but may not make sense.)

At any rate, it was an enjoyable read, super visual with lots of well chosen detail, flowing action, and with a body slam at the end!

[blueinferno07]

Thank you all for the kindness :)

[Josie]

What an unholy and horrific masquerade! Never would I have been able to imagine a bobby pin being such a destructive weapon or Desperation pulling the veins out of his arms and Love tossing them over a chandelier so she could pull him up and make him dance. It is definitely a fantasy or a nightmare. Your imagination puts you over the top. Thank you for sharing.

[dornicks]

I liked everything about your piece,an admirable write,well deserving of the Spotlight. Thank you for sharing and congratulations,

dornicks

[AoR]

Ahha this is incredible! You created a scene, demanded a show and enthralled with precision and excellence. Not a word or action wasted, I was captivated from the sharpness of the opening liners, just hearing the names 'Desperation'' and 'Love' instilled intrigue and chill. The first stanza really relayed the fears and grimness to come but I didn't realize it until a second read through. Very clever and enchanting in a dark and saddening way, which I found refreshing and your whole set-up is perfectly executed. I could write a comment on every stanza, nothing was a waste or worthless. Those ending lines... Wow.

Spotlight? Yes, this was written to be in the Spotlight. It's gorgeous! Just breath-taking.

[amaranthus]

Spellbinding...the first word that came to mind. This is one epic work that I will never forget. Congrats on a Well deserved spotlight!

[everhopeful]

Crafting a poem where you are so blatant and explicit about the who and the why, right from the first sentence, suggested we might be in for something incredibly forceful and direct. While that was true, particularly in how Love and Desperation played out together, it's not without nuance. The way you flush out the narrative in such a grand way, with violent actions within an elegant setting, is hard-hitting and brutally beautiful.
Well penned, and congratulations on the spotlight!