The Riddle of Shiny Helen

Love hearts and scabby knees. Dead flies and stinging bees. Dirty nails and sweaty lips. Fishnets with ragged slips. Eyeholes in a hessian sack. Pimples on a tattooed back. Toys that she just can’t unpack. Helen. Secret Helen. Lies from a mother’s heart. Secrets that fell apart. Beauty too divine to see. As purple as a Judas Tree. Singing from her cradle jail. A baby crying weak and frail. Giggle, breathe, inhale, exhale. Helen Splintered Helen. An infantile brutalist. A wide-awake somnambulist. Mamma’s bile and Daddy’s fist. A kiss, a slap a broken wrist. She hides within a dark recess. She dances with her own distress. A monster wearing fancy dress. Helen Sacred Helen. Fantasies of guilt and sin. Concealed beneath a slab of skin. Loathe the self and stunt the flesh. Her impotence and spite enmesh. To love the girl, she veils the face. To save the world from its disgrace. Before she leaves without a trace. Helen Shiny Helen.