Friday 28 December 2012

Sudden Prose Reprints: "Inside the Yellow Dress (1)" by Mary Ann Samyn


Inside the Yellow Dress (1)

          --It got worse and worse until I couldn't put two words together: for example, pony tail, each part rearing up, wanting to be the main thing. But the main thing was the ribbon, which I wanted but didn't mention for fear of angering the other words. Also the scissors, which lay on the dresser, admiring themselves in the mirror. I better not became my theme. As in childhood, when I was easily bribed by a little candy: the slightest nod or lemon drop.


Mary Ann Samyn
Inside the Yellow Dress
New Issues, 2001

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

The voice of this poem creates a voice which, from the outside appears as a sweet girl in ‘a yellow dress’ but truly the thoughts that go on ‘inside’ the author’s head are very complex and self-aware. The mentioning of scissors makes one imagine she intends to cut off the pony tail to have the ribbon. Also, there is a strong sense of discipline coming from an outside presence: the angering of ‘the other words’ and the bribing leads to this assumption. Also, one could argue the girls aware of her own decision making– ‘I better not’. This makes a successful prose poem as it deals with the theme of temptation and consciousness.