Poem- Malleable yet marred- Free verse

You need not worry dear boys like us bend not break.
Now take a deep breath and give it to me straight.
I am a sheep in wolf attire walking your tightrope wire.
Never the type to move with grace,
but always equipped with the best poker face.
This steady hand hides the adoration of this man.
And a charming smile does well to distract for a while.
So give me your answer and what will it be?
When you look inside do you find love for me?
You need not worry if the answer be no.
For I am an excellent actor equipped to preform an applause worthy show.
No a wound dealt to me your eyes shall not see.
For I would never hurt you though painful it be.
Boys like us we were never so lucky to just fall apart.
We bend not break, we're malleable yet marred.

The inspiration for this would be poem was the break up with my first girlfriend.
As with almost all the poems i write it usually starts with an event or mood or thought or a combination of the three. From there i usually come up with a single line I feel carry's a lot of weight and captures the wanted attributes with simplistic form. The challenge after that is i build the rest of the poem around this one line.

Murasaki Shikibu

Murasaki was author to one of the earliest known works of pros "Tale of Genji" as well as a poet. If you have ever read "Tale of Genji" or read even a portion of it is simply staggering for a book written between 1000 and 1008. Yet despite being a literary giant for her day her popularity in western education and culture is not as strong as it should be. It is believed she lived from 973c-1014or25 because of this a video or audio done by here is impossible. Below are some links about her and her works.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Murasaki_Shikibu
http://home.infionline.net/~ddisse/murasaki.html#anchor103259
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Tale_of_Genji
http://www.taleofgenji.org/

Here is an excerpt from the book "Tale of Genji" by Murasaki Shikibu which contains a rather large amount of poetry. You can find this excerpt and more on http://home.infionline.net/~ddisse/murasaki.html#anchor101108

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"...two side by side."
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[From Chapter 23, when Genji and Murasaki have been together for almost 20 years and their relationship has survived his exile and his ongoing affairs with other women. As Reichhold points out, "it is rare for [poems of the period] to contain the happiness of love." Sitting alone with Murasaki, Genji says:]

at last the thin ice
has melted from the pond
the mirror reflects
an image unequaled in
these times of two side by side.

[And Murasaki replies, extending the image to past and future:]

how clear it is
in the mirror of the pond
these images of
ten thousand generations
which remain vivid forever. [p.173]

I honestly feel "Tale of Genji" being arguably the first novel ever written that has survived until today and the fact that in its time it was far and away in a league of its own should give it a prominent place in our education system and make it or at least a part of it a required text.

Favorite poem

The poem below is absolutely my favorite poem (for now anyway). It is taken from my favorite book which is Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov. I like the format the poem is written in his descriptions and references to specific details in the book also caught my eye a lot when i read it. My favorite stanza would be the last in this poem with my favorite line being the very last. I also like the repetition and use of the theme of a missing person being tied into the poem. I feel this poems mood really does a great job of perfectly fitting the mood of the book.

Vladimir Nabokov, Lolita, Chapter 25

Wanted, wanted: Dolores Haze.
Hair: brown. Lips: scarlet.
Age: five thousand three hundred days.
Profession: none, or "starlet"

Where are you hiding, Dolores Haze?
Why are you hiding, darling?
(I Talk in a daze, I walk in a maze
I cannot get out, said the starling).

Where are you riding, Dolores Haze?
What make is the magic carpet?
Is a Cream Cougar the present craze?
And where are you parked, my car pet?

Who is your hero, Dolores Haze?
Still one of those blue-capped star-men?
Oh the balmy days and the palmy bays,
And the cars, and the bars, my Carmen!

Oh Dolores, that juke-box hurts!
Are you still dancin', darlin'?
(Both in worn levis, both in torn T-shirts,
And I, in my corner, snarlin').

Happy, happy is gnarled McFate
Touring the States with a child wife,
Plowing his Molly in every State
Among the protected wild life.

My Dolly, my folly! Her eyes were vair,
And never closed when I kissed her.
Know an old perfume called Soliel Vert?
Are you from Paris, mister?

L'autre soir un air froid d'opera m'alita;
Son fele -- bien fol est qui s'y fie!
Il neige, le decor s'ecroule, Lolita!
Lolita, qu'ai-je fait de ta vie?

Dying, dying, Lolita Haze,
Of hate and remorse, I'm dying.
And again my hairy fist I raise,
And again I hear you crying.

Officer, officer, there they go--
In the rain, where that lighted store is!
And her socks are white, and I love her so,
And her name is Haze, Dolores.

Officer, officer, there they are--
Dolores Haze and her lover!
Whip out your gun and follow that car.
Now tumble out and take cover.

Wanted, wanted: Dolores Haze.
Her dream-gray gaze never flinches.
Ninety pounds is all she weighs
With a height of sixty inches.

My car is limping, Dolores Haze,
And the last long lap is the hardest,
And I shall be dumped where the weed decays,
And the rest is rust and stardust.