Mardi Gras Series #5, Pastel, by John Cummings
Stumbles, Pitfalls, and Spells
‘Yo no creo en brujas, pero que las hay, las hay’
(Galicia’s cruel saying)
There was a thief that a bad luck set him
on the way to your house;
a rapist that someone drove his madness’ eyes
and his insane desire to that dear friend of yours,
or, who knows, the weight of evil,
even to your beloved daughter.
A runaway truck that went around, didn’t catch you,
but wrecked a car with your friend’s sister,
also destroying her life and her family’s.
An irate driver who picked you up in traffic,
for, without any motive or reason, to overflow
all his hatred towards this world we live in.
That drug dealer who once saw at your son
a certain hopelessness of youth and guided him,
without pity or hesitation and with all wickedness,
on the sordid path of addiction.
That one you thought your friend but directed you,
with false truths and promise of great gains,
for a business he never had money or courage to.
That stranger (maybe even a friend),
who, hidden from you and from due respect,
set eyes of malice and sin in your wife.
That sullen and unpredictable man, let loose on the streets,
instead of locked up in a bughouse, who can, on the outbreak
of the moment, just take your life.
So are some ways generated by witches you never knew,
nor had never wished to know,
who, for free and pleasure of wrongdoing, also for envy,
collide daily with your brothers and sisters,
and are always looking for you too.
____________________
Edilson Afonso Ferreira
Review by J. S. Absher
For me, this is a stunning poem that merits closer study. It catalogs all the reasons for the evil that may befall us or those we love–chance (bad luck, accident), motivated wickedness, exploitation of the weak, the random expression of evil “without any motive or reason,” malice, greed, madness, lust, cowardice, betrayal by friends, institutional failure (the “sullen and unpredictable man, let loose on the streets”), and lies and false promises. It does seem that some kind of witchcraft is work in our world; envy and pleasure in wrongdoing become visible in “the outbreak / of the moment,” a memorable phrase.
Review by Dave Mehler
Who hasn’t felt like they’ve got a target painted on their back in the supernatural world? That the world, even the unseen world, has your number and it’s about to be called? Or how to explain that person at work, one of your co-workers who openly shows contempt, scowls, glares, hates, and talks about you to others, refuses all attempts to be won over, and you have no idea why because there is little or no apparent justification? Or the bumper sticker, shit happens–though this is crass and don’t buy it, it speaks to enough truth of feeling on certain days at certain times, also known as Murphy’s Law, that it entered and captured popular culture for a time. Another negative outlook I have heard at work too many times is the pithy resigned fatalism of It is what it is. I work at a dump, where someone dug out a placard with these words on it and set it out finding it representative. But while Ferreira mentions stumbles, and pitfalls, what I think his main thesis is is the spells of witches–or that unaccountable and personal evil that sits behind and out of plain sight, waiting for the hapless to wander by and be accosted, afflicted, or entrapped or enslaved? We don’t normally hear much about this in our what used to be pre-post-modern lives of secular materialism? Though I feel there seems to have been a shift lately, where on TV and movies we can’t get enough of or away from the supernatural and horror themes, like dark fairy tales for adults, whether demonic or extraterrestrial, or simply horrific natural disaster, or even the dystopian (entertainment, or supplemental how-to instruction for the subconscious?) . We all know these things lurk we can’t explain that sometimes may even feel fated or lucked, or hidden behind the scenes. This seems to be Ferreira’s subject matter. The only remedy seems to be a counterpoint of light, goodness, holiness? Perhaps prayers, (or a talisman) for protection? Invisible good opposing invisible evil? How does one fight powerful entities or forces you can’t see coming, dressed in the guise of natural means? What is underneath, directing perceived reality? I had fun pondering all this. I appreciate the warning and acknowledgement (rare) that there truly exists a personal evil in the world. I would have liked to see alternatively an acknowledgment of invisible personal goodness, but I understand and accept that that wasn’t the job of this particular poem.