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Pretty Terrible

Pop Culture Criticism by Natalie Luhrs

April 26, 2016

The Poetry Project: Mari Ness

Poetry Project

Mari Ness

Mari Ness

Mari Ness

Mari Ness is not quite as obsessed with myth and fairy tale as her work might suggest. Her poetry and short fiction have appeared in numerous publications, including Tor.com, Clarkesworld Magazine, Apex Magazine,Daily Science Fiction, and Goblin Fruit. For more, check out her webpage at marikness.wordpress.com, or follow her on Twitter at @mari_ness.

The Thirteenth Child

If our thirteenth child is a girl, all her twelve brothers must die, so that she may be very rich, and the kingdom hers and hers alone.
     from Household Tales, collected by the Brothers Grimm.

I never knew
their names. Only
twelve coffins
in one straight line,
filling the cold grey crypt.

I never wanted
more bones. Only
those already
in my hands,
toys for our plain stone halls.

Read the rest at Uncanny.

 Oof, this poem–the repetition through the stanzas (until the last one) and the exploration of a single line from the Brothers Grimm just gets me every time I read it.  The short lines and repetitive language really serve to bring home the subject of the poem: the loneliness and isolation of the speaker in the wake of her brothers’ murders.  I have a real weakness for poems which deal with mythic or fairy tale subjects, so this poem is the jam to my toast. Or something like that.

  • “The Restoration of Youth”, Strange Horizons, January 2014
  • “Bone Song”, Inkscrawl, March 2014
  • “Demands”, Goblin Fruit, Fall 2014
  • “Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Dragon”, Tor.com, April 2015
  • “Kore”, Through the Gate, August 2015

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Filed Under: The Poetry Project Natalie Luhrs

About Natalie Luhrs

I'm a lifelong geek with a passion for books and social justice.

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  1. The Poetry Project! - Pretty Terrible says:
    May 1, 2016 at 11:18 am

    […] April 26: Mari Ness […]

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Hello! I’m Natalie Luhrs. I write about books and culture and whatever else strikes my fancy. I have so many opinions.

I was a nominee for the Best Fan Writer Hugo in 2017.

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