Angel and Ape
Under snow-white coverlet
the most beautiful little girl
Tom had ever seen – her cheeks
almost as white as the pillow
her hair like threads of gold
was she a real live person
or one of the wax dolls seen in shops
he saw her breath – she was alive
and as an angel out of heaven
Looking round saw standing close to him
a little ugly, black, ragged figure
bleared eyes, grinning white teeth
such a little black ape
in that sweet young lady’s room
it was himself
reflected in a great mirror
For the first time in his life
found out he was dirty
burst into tears
with shame and anger
turned to sneak up the chimney
and hide…
© Andrew Wilson, 2023
This is a found poem with words derived from The Water-Babies by Charles Kingsley. The title – Evolution, is because Kingsley was a naturalist around the exciting time when the work of Wallage and Darwin were revolutionising the worlds of science, geology and biology and there will be found poems that reference this aspect of the tale. But so far, the finding of poems has been more like the method for refining poems since Kingsley writes very lyrical passages anyway…
The image is derived in Midjourney.
This series was inspired by my friend Misky over at It’s Still Life who has been producing a series of Found Poems…
