"Pearl Bryan" (National Poetry Month poem-a-day) Day 7

Written By Bruce A. Pandolfo
4/7/17
I've a story, gather 'round
lend me your hearts and ears

Unwed Pearl, but twenty two
showed a maternal sphere

No Pa known though two assumed:
both Will Wood and Scott Jackson

Faux Pas felonies to ruin
their lives so she took action

She would not will her cousin,
Will Wood to be involved with

Her other lover Jackson
whom she pleaded to solve it

Scott, a dental student and
his roommate Walling helped

In Cincinnati they met Pearl
and earned a spot in Hell

The procedure a failure,
drenched a farm field in red

A young boy found Pearl's body
No one e'er found her head

People ogled the brutal scene
and pilfered souvenirs

Such as crimson greenery
made by two who disappeared

Weeping eyes knew their daughter
by tags and her webbed toes

The found killers found guilty
yet still women proposed

They the last men the state hung
Be aware, beware behave

To those listening when sung:

leave coins face up on her grave 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

2023 Booklist and Recommendations (with links)

Image
  Reading Capote's In Cold Blood between typewriting poems for folks at the Three Village Farmers Market in Setauket, NY Am I obliged to start every New Year's reading list/recap with shock at the passage of time?  I think I won't, although I'll comment on that inevitability a little later... 2023 Reading list: Counting plays and individual trade paperbacks, I read nearly 80 books in 2023.   Clearly, reading is an obsession for me. Escapism. Learning. ADHD-prompted insatiability for novelty (pardon the pun, and pardon saying “pardon the pun” I loathe it.)   Part of it is also the desire to flesh out my imagined expansive private study/library, a fantasy I’ve harbored since I first saw Disney’s Beauty and The Beast.   Sometimes the books and their particulars linger long after, other times they fade leaving only a line of dialogue, or clever twist, or concept or brilliant structure that stays with me.   Often, I jump hungrily to the next book the very sa...
Read more

Andrew Mesmer's "Believe Me, You Won't!"

Image
Happy Holidays my friends, I hope they've all gone well!  Welcome to 2015!     2014 was full of enriching endeavors for me and I'm going to take a bit of time to discuss one of the most important experiences of this past year...  It has been a little over a month since my good friend, mentalist  Andrew Mesmer  premiered his debut full length mentalism performance titled,  "Believe Me, You Won't"  at the  Performance Arts Studio in Port Jefferson . I wanted to introduce you to him and reflect a little on the experience, as I had a behind the scenes hand in developing the show with him and it meant very much to me!  First I invite you to check out his website at  www.andrewmesmer.com  and like him on  HIS FACEBOOK PAGE  follow him on twitter @AndrewMesmer ..go ahead! If you want something memorable for your next gathering, Andrew does private events, corporate events and can adapt his capabilities and presentation ...
Read more

The Power of Artistry (and art's poignancy in quarantine)

Image
Hello AllOne Family, I hope this message finds you safe, healthy and wonderfulfilled. Yesterday I was reading the transcript of Alan Moore's brilliant performance piece "Snakes & Ladders" (incredibly recommended, though esoteric reading). His words are accompanied in the offering by the multimedia visual artist Eddie Campbell. Afterwards, I was watching an excerpt of an interview with the great Alan Moore where he shares some important insight into the power that artists once had, specifically in the bardic and satire traditions. (Here's another link to the interview segment: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5LYgkN2Ajmk ) Moore then infers this empowering historical truth could have great import for modern artists. "If artists actually remembered the power that they used to have, then I think that...if they treated their art as if it were magic... if they gave their creativity the respect that they would give a God, then I think th...
Read more