Lyrics Alcestis on the Poetry Circuit - Vanessa Daou

Alcestis on the Poetry Circuit

The best slave
Does not need to be beaten
She beats herself
Not with a leather whip
Or with stick or twigs
Not with a blackjack
Or a billyclub
But with the fine whip
Of her own tongue
& the subtle beating
Of her mind
Against her mind
For who can hate her half so well
As she hates herself?
& who can match the finesse
Of her self-abuse?
Years of training
Are required for this
Twenty years
Of subtle self-indulgence
Self-denial;
Until the subject
Thinks herself a queen
& yet a beggar —
Both at the same time
She must doubt herself
In everything but love
She must choose passionately
& badly
She must feel lost as a dog
Without her master
She must refer all moral questions
To her mirror
She must fall in love with a cossack
Or a poet
She must never go out of the house
Unless veiled in paint
She must wear tight shoes
So she always remembers her bondage
She must never forget
She is rooted in the ground
Though she is quick to learn
& admittedly clever
Her natural doubt of herself
Should make her so weak
That she dabbles brilliantly
In half a dozen talents
& thus embellishes
But does not change
Our life
If she’s an artist
& comes close to genius
The very fact of her gift
Should cause her such pain
That she will take her own life
Rather than best us
& after she dies, we will cry
& make her a saint