Summer of 1816

Constantia Singing
open collars and all that hair
a century-and-a-half before
the Beatles
it rained and rained
spooky stories
carrion sentient with a kind of life
but ugliness
accusations
dead children
newborn, one after the other

youth movement of sorts
in the parlor
conversations on the lake
Julian and Maddolo
White Anglo Saxon Atheists
pressure to perform
to walk in visions of poesy
outpace the game legged Superstar
while the boat on the lake
harbinger of --
well one should learn to wrestle water
especially if drawn to it

laudanum, pistols
Greek and Latin roots
before movies
and American kids in flat-head masks on Halloween
before the monster was a grunting imbecile
incapable of polyglot discourse

I saw a lock of Mary's hair encased in glass
(New York Public Library)
light brown flecked with gold
honestly it could have come from any teenage girl
just yesterday
but it's older even than the rubber mask I've kept since I was six
note: monster mask: note: monster
Frankenstein was not the monster
he was the Muse