Josefine K. a city unto herself
Inmate of the typist’s district
One year before the war of the senses
Am I more woman
In the darkness of day
Or the shutters of melancholia
The Vltava is my lover
The body I offer to my beloved
The dream the city casts into my mind
Of her creations
Bipedal despots
A tapestry of strangers
Who haunt the earth like dead men
Statues of the dead gods
Mark the furnaces of the air
And at night I commit the harrowing crime
Of writing
Comments
Dearest Honor
Actually Josef K. is the protagonist and antihero of Kafka’s masterpiece The Trial about an innocent man arrested for a crime which is never stated. I perceive him as criminalised as an intellectual someone ostracised by the broader society. The same laws apply to my Josefine K. a female counterpart and maybe I’ll deal with it in greater detail in the future sensuality of the body and restrictions of the mind and spirit. Thanks so much for reading. The title comes from a piece of music by Kodaly thanks John :)
Honor
Thanks indeed dear Honor back in a kind of pupil stage
Dearest Honor
I was just a bit down as I don’t receive too many comments and some online friends are not too well these days. I’m immeasurably grateful for your support love John xxx
Hi
Thanks Honor your words offer me valued encouragement dear friend xxx
I have edited only slightly
I have edited only slightly since your last read the phrase “worker’s district” for “typist’s district” it changes the poem to my mind as it greatly alters the class status of the character Josefine. I shall be continuing in the series so please watch this space. Another option might be “machinist’s district” but of course that would misplace her status even more so. Advice is of course always welcome regards John xxx
Dearest Honor
Of course your opinion is valuable to me as a fellow writer :)
Love It
Habibi
Read this fascinating piece with interest , loving your clever title , you take this latest Kafkaesque venture to a new level expanding on your other Josephine K writes and of course the K and joseph K pieces directly related to the Kafka Trial Character .You portray her the female Josef as the city, of the city that created and controls her , a city tied by reference to the river to Prague but I understand that in this surrealist piece you are writing of a vague undefined place like the Castle in Kafkas piece where the place is an unreachable place .She is of the working class and the setting a year before the war of the senses the only reference I could find was to the war in Baghdad , again I assume this could be a surrealist imagined war .
She is questioning her womanhood her femininity as she lives in the dark working class uninspiring part of the city among that created her .She wonders if she is more woman in that dark light or in the depths of her melancholia brought on by her circumstances . She imagines the river her lover running through her a river also of the city that created and controls her life, her thoughts like a mind control device , the city that has created mindless despots who wander the world useless , dead gods are the fire in the air , assume the city has no place for Gods in its controlled space or no place for them in the minds of those they control. At night she commits the ultimate crime against her city her creator she herself creates through her writing finding writing a sad experience in these circumstances
I love this piece created with your as always intelligent sensitive pen . You are developing a theme along the line of thought control and lack of personal freedoms which of course freedom and justice being two of your motivators for writing are perfect topics .Having read a little and watched a little Kafka work I love how you have been inspired by his style and made a style of your own in all your J pieces .It is a short piece but every line and word hold significance to the narrative of Josefine K and her struggles .I found it intriguing, that thought of place creating and controlling lives and her sadness at her plight and the fact that her writing was a crime in the city of control and could only be done under cover of night .
A clever piece ,with great metaphor ,imagery and language , a short thought provoking read that grabbed my attention from the start and a fine development of the Josefine K character and theme .
Your creative talent , intellect and sensitive heart always combine so perfectly when you write that you give beautifully engaging , creative , intelligent poetry in a style you have created for yourself that will always have the humanitarian themes of love , freedoms and justice/ injustice running through their heart , because they are the fabric of your heart and soul that you never hold back on sharing in your creation of poetic artistry .
You are an awesome poet my habibi and I look forward to seeing how Ms Josefine develops in future writes on this theme
Usual offer to edit etc of course applies if I have misconstrued anything in your amazing write
Thanks for another wonderful experience as you lift my mind from the mundane into your magical poetic realms
Mar xxxXxxx
Dearest Mar
You have inspired me in your beautiful uplifting review to write a fourth and final piece which will explore freedom as I have explored infringements in the past. Not sure which routes it will take yet but you’ve given me ideas. Thanks darling love John xxx
Welcome
Habibi
Thanks for your kind words,
You are oh so welcome darling I look forward to the new write as always
Love Mar xx Xxx
Dearest Mar
I also have ideas germinating for a continuation of the Sisyphus series if the world can take it xxx