Order for Masks
by Virginia R. Moreno
To this harlequinade
I wear black tights
and fool’s cap
Billiken, make me
three bright masks
For the three tasks
in my life
Three faces to wear
One after the other
For the three men in
my life.
When my Brother comes
Make me one opposite
If he is devil, a
saint
With a staff to his
fork
And for his horns, a
crow.
I hope by contrast
To make nil
Our old resemblance
to each other
And my twin will walk
me out
Without a frown
Pretending I am
another.
When my Father comes
Make me one so like
His child once eating
his white bread in trance
Philomela before she
was raped.
I hope by likeness
To make him believe
this is the same kind
The chaste face he
made
And my blind Lear
will walk me out
Without a word
Fearing to peer
behind.
If my lover comes
Yes, when my Seducer
comes
Make for me the face
That will in colors race
The carnival stars
And change in shape
Under his grasping hands.
Make it bloody
When he needs it white
Make it wicked in the dark
Let him find no old mark
Make it stone to his suave touch.
This magician will walk me out,
Newly loved,
Not knowing why my tantalizing face
Is strangely like the mangled parts of a face
He once wiped out.
Make me three masks.
TASK:
Read about the author
Vocabulary words and meanings
Try to study the elements (figures of speech and sound devices)
No need to submit anything. This is only for your recitation on the discussion.
No comments:
Post a Comment