Based on the short story A Lady’s Hands Are Cold, written and illustrated by Emily Carroll
“It began with a Spring wedding.”
From the first night at her new groom’s mansion,
“By Summer, locked away in the hall.”
A heart-breaking moan made itself known
“By Autumn, willfully murdered.”
More like a hymn, desperate warning in song
“By Winter, dead to all.”
Robbed her of minutes, hours of sleep
“Never to cross the pearly gates—”
Each bedtime, more of the same, driven her insane
“Slow decay to the bone.”
One night, aggravation came to a head
“Never to be a ghost that floats—”
And the bride took action
“Left to rot forsaken and alone.”
With a hatchet, hacked hole into corridor wall
“Those dainty hands,”
Where the dreadful song spewed from
“Smooth skin, pretty face.”
Found a pair of hands, dead and cold by touch
“Along comes competition”
Throughout the manor, a night of excavations
“Looking to take my place!”
A leg in the floor, two arms underneath a picture,
“Treasures once had: The necklace, the bed,”
Dismembered feet, one in a closet, one in drawers,
“The manor that was home, but”
Torso wrapped in a silver dress below the stairs
“The biggest gift given was my love—”
Another leg between columns and finally,
“And both hands were cut!”
A detached head, shock of grey hair, blank eyes,
“That man will never love you!”
Thin lips cold—which miraculously
“Not him or any high-born man!”
Spoke, threatened a violent revenge—Dead lady in sections
“Piece by piece, you’ll be ripped! Deceased!”
Re-assembled with red ribbons—Re-emerged on both feet
“Now that I rise again!”
Aching to strangle the breath from her rival!
“Once upon a time, a triangle did unfold:”
Out of the mansion,
“A young woman, a rich man and”
Past her monster [well, husband],
“A lady whose hands were cold.”
Towards the woods she ran [she’s much safer there, among the trees].
*Note: Contrapuntal: A poem in which two different viewpoints are expressed on the page either as two columns of words or one line of poem A followed by one corresponding line from poem B from start to finish. It can be read as two poems on one page or as a dialogue between poems.
