For Real Toads Camera Flash imagined by Kerry.
Firefly 1907
Dorian Gray’s Baby Sister
You sit in the shadows
fondling your pearl –
staring straight ahead as if to say
what am I doing here?
dressed in black
you asked the photographer
to pretty please make it soft looking
to pretty please print the black and white
film in sepia tones –
As if it were the olden days
so you would look softer
and more romantic.
And of course he did.
And of course you got your way.
You always get your way.
You want to look soft and sweet
but we all know
you are soft as iron
cold as a sharpened blade
ready to slice through reality
in one blow.
So no one would ever find out
about the dead men in your basement
folded away like used tea bags.
You drank them up
slowly and with a bit of sugar and cream.
And of course
you always get your way.
From 1907 to 2018.
Soft and sweet looking.
Yeah.
Like a candy coated snake.
kanzen sakura 
Jan 06, 2018 @ 19:15:55
Yikes. You wrote this so well, such good metaphors, similes. I confess that I have never read Dorian Gray. That’s on my reading bucket list now, along with too many others to finish, I fear.
Jan 06, 2018 @ 19:24:42
I am obsessed with Dorian Gray, with living forever, with The Hunger and how she put the risks of her gibbering lovers into kicked trunks. Take an afternoon and sit with a pot of tea, probably orange and clove. I read it that way when I was 11. With my Do Not Disturb note on my bedroom door. You know you want to Victoria!
Jan 06, 2018 @ 19:35:21
I haven’t read it. Is this all really in the book? Or did you make this up? I thought you were being imaginative. 🙂
Jan 06, 2018 @ 19:43:13
I made it all up. He was a wealthy indolent liner without conscious thoughts of others. I think this is the 4th poem I’ be written about him but if course this isn’t about him. Thank you Shawn for your kind words. You make me feel as if I could write. Bless your sweet heart.
Jan 06, 2018 @ 20:13:04
That is so awesome that you came up with this from scratch!
Yes, I know him. I have seen the movie. I just thought maybe there was more in the book about his sister.
Jan 06, 2018 @ 20:33:23
Nope. Total fiction on a fictional character. I’ve seen several fun renditions of Dorian but my favorite was on Penny Dreadful.
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Jan 07, 2018 @ 11:41:44
Yowza. Got it, whew.
Jan 06, 2018 @ 20:43:44
Going to at least make that tea now and I will download Dorian onto my Kindle.
Jan 06, 2018 @ 21:53:56
Sounds like a plan to me. After Dukegets their butts kicked by NC state ?? I think I’ll pull it up on my kindle for another re-read. Have a good evening. Hugs.
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Jan 06, 2018 @ 19:33:09
Damn, sister. I was blown away just with the title. What an ingenious idea. But then the poem, sheesh. My impulse is to say this is your best poem ever, but that’s just because I love this style so much — fiesty and scary and sharp and … well, written about Poe sorts of characters. So what I mean to say is “thank you” for going there in this way. It speaks to me.
As for the subject, if it’s true, it’s certainly not funny. But I think it’s likely complete fiction, so I’m laughing. Either way, if she shows her softer side, maybe she can at least cut back on the damage, right?
I think this is probably what speaks to me the most:
“staring straight ahead as if to say
what am I doing here?”
I know that feeling well. Just don’t meet eyes, stay busy, keep to yourself, because you have no idea what you’re doing at all.
Then I love this as well:
“You drank them up
slowly and with a bit of sugar and cream.
And of course
you always get your way.
From 1907 to 2018.”
I enjoyed seeing another of your styles. You’re very gifted, as you well know.
Jan 07, 2018 @ 02:20:06
Dorian Grey’s baby sister – I love where your imagination has taken you, Toni, and how you got into her head. Great lines:
‘you are soft as iron
cold as a sharpened blade
ready to slice through reality’
and
‘…the dead men in your basement
folded away like used tea bags.
You drank them up
slowly and with a bit of sugar and cream’.
Jan 07, 2018 @ 03:20:26
I love the way you offer two sides to the portrait. It’s great! And, boy, did you surprise me with the unseen part of her nature.. the candy coated snake is just brilliant.
Jan 07, 2018 @ 04:30:56
Dorian Gray has always fascinated me, to the extent that I almost think he has become a metaphor… The men in the basement also made me think of Bluebeard… wouldn’t that be a great Character — Lady Bluebeard… ?
Jan 07, 2018 @ 04:51:45
‘but we all know you are soft as iron cold as a sharpened blade ready to slice through reality in one blow’… my goodness this is good! And that twist at the end was bone chilling! Great write, Toni!
Jan 07, 2018 @ 06:17:38
Back away now you are entering a minefield! Perhaps I was a chicken or had a warning bell in my brain so I never met such a dangerous temptress in my life. What did I miss? This really is a great piece of writing.
Jan 07, 2018 @ 09:55:19
Oh my goodness. I wasn’t prepared for HOW dark that got. The dead men in the basement folded away like used tea bags gave me shivers. Really strong images here
Jan 07, 2018 @ 10:03:39
I’ve read the book (and seen the movie). The sister rings so true.
Jan 07, 2018 @ 11:08:17
Whoa whoa whoa! I don’t want to hear another word about how you don’t write well. This is a scathing and absolutely accurate portrait of a certain kind of person, and it isn’t only men stacked dead in her basement. Thanks for the reminder to always carry my cross and ax.
Jan 07, 2018 @ 11:12:40
Tha
Jan 07, 2018 @ 11:17:13
Thanks Shay. I’ve known a lot of women just like her. I always keep my force field up and my communicator on stun and my wand at the ready for such as she. And my wakizashi. I am always prepared.
Jan 07, 2018 @ 11:19:29
Interesting and great way to deal that… haven’t read….I think I must read…!!
Jan 08, 2018 @ 14:04:17
A great depiction of true evil.
Jan 09, 2018 @ 19:46:47
kaykuala
And of course you always get your way.
From 1907 to 2018.
Soft and sweet looking. Yeah.
She is at an advantage just like Gray, not aging. She can be all powerful! Very intimidating!
Hank
Jan 09, 2018 @ 21:09:22
Yeppers. That she can!
Jan 09, 2018 @ 22:14:09
Love this
Jan 09, 2018 @ 22:37:17
??
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