Mrs Solomon

Mrs Solomon.
Which one?
Number one, number two, number ten?
I think it was forty-something,
At some point,
before he lost count
And said, Who cares?

Some nights
All alone in my room
Among all his gifts
I throw them at the wall,
One by one. Crash.
What am I to you?
Just another number?
A trophy? A prize
To add to your collection?

But those nights
When he calls me to him
And remembers my name
I forgive him;
And when he says
That I'm the only one
I swallow all his lies
Sweeter than honey
Wishing they were true.

_______________________________________________________________________

[2008 or 2009]

This actually is my very very first "women of the Bible poem", although back then I didn't know I'd ever challenge myself to write poetry for all of them. This was a piece of English homework back in IB days, where we were asked to write a poem in the style of Carol Ann Duffy. From the start, it was "Mrs Solomon" in my head, but because I didn't want to give my non-Christian classmates any more reason for rejecting the Bible (Solomon being generally respected by most Christians - except my mother haha - despite his "women problem") I changed the title. I have changed it back though (to be honest partly because at some point I felt "I've written one about one of Solomon's wives already, let's be lazy").

I do suspect Carol Ann Duffy's poetry has influenced my poetry a bit, especially the idea of writing about the women behind famous men, even though I only ever read her poetry in school.

Picture by Karel Ooms