Mute Babylonian Whore

I am happy March has arrived, and I can put my adventure with the Aquarian metered poetry behind me. I’ve decided to move into new territory. In the past, I have devoted myself to writing a single style of poetry for the month. Writing in the same style for thirty days can get tiring, so I will lunch a new way of attacking my poetic journey. I will explore three new types of poetry in March, and I plan to write Breccbairdne, Blackout, and Brady’s Touch poems. This poetic adventure will teach me many important lessons about meter and rhythm.  Let’s get started. This poem is a Black Out Poem titled Mute Babylonian Whore.

About the Black Out Poem and Mute Babylonian Whore

Poet takes a black marker and redacts words until a poem is formed. It is important to note the text and redacted words form a visual poem.

Method to use

!. Identify source text. The source can be a newspaper, a page from a book, or any written text.

2. Draw a box around keywords or phrases.

3. Make Connections between boxes. (This is optional.)

4. Color the rest in with a marker. You can use any color. The most common color used is black.

I found this style of creating a poem unique from anything I’ve ever tried before. The words are already provided, and the challenge is to make something poetic out of the text. I decided to use Mr. Chartwell, Rebecca Hunt, to create these poems.

Note: Hunt uses several references to the Babylonian Whore in the book I am using to create these poems. Possible from one of two references. In the book of Revelation, the whore of Babylon exists. I also discovered that in the Victorian Age, the city of London was nicknamed Babylon. Since t6he sitting for Hunt’s story exists in London, I assume the reference comes from and is used similar to the David Gray song Babylon.

Mute Babylonian Whore

“I don’t talk.”
“I hardly ever joke.”
Taking too long.
His soft delivery.
“Mute Babylonian whore.”
Room C
Buttoned her cardigan.
Two wrong buttons.
“What happened to you this morning?”
Easter kept silent.
Forcing her back,
A wordless greeting,
With more panache,
Enjoying it. 

Who is Molly Shea?

Molly Shea is an accomplished fictional short story writer from Indiana who writes short stories and novels about a fictional town called Tecumseh.  To read more of her short stories and adventures, click here.

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