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Fear in Black and White

by Branch Isole

I met Nicole Brown Simpson today.

Not really,

but a woman

just as blonde

just as beautiful . . .

just as frightened,

You could see it in her eyes

On her lap, sat

a stunningly attractive child

Next to her stood,

a rugged Adonis like figure

leering down possessively at her

as he accepted his award

and the adulation

of an adoring, unknowing public

The air between them was palatable

A space once charged with lustful energy

now contained fear

and sparks,

just beneath the surface

of a forced smile with perfect white teeth

and a sinister sideways glance

from dark insecure eyes

What is it that makes these trophies

so endearing, so desired,

yet so dangerous a combination?

It is not black and white

It is something else

Something more base

Something more need filled

It is more.

It is, look at me

I’ve made it

I’ve arrived,

I will laugh in the face of convention

The one I long to be part of

and at the same time, beg to defy

The bruises are covered,

masked by make-up

and the finest couture

But fear, still resides there

Behind eyes that see running

and a memory that clings

to the temporary safety

of a locked bathroom door

He said,

“If you ever try to leave

I’ll kill you”

and she believes him

So she stays,

Smiling for the cameras

and fearing for her life

Previously published in The Verse Marauder, February 2007.
theversemarauder.com

Branch Isole Author of Barking Geckos and God i believe, Branch Isole writes of issues and emotions surrounding personal responsibility choice and avoidance. His style and presentation, known as ‘voyeurism poetry’ engages the reader in common life themes often experienced, but not always voiced.

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