Ah, a double feature of filth. While there is no chapter of Death of the Actor this week, I figured this was owed.

Narrative poems tend to have rhythm and structure, although the format of that structure is entirely up to the composer. In The Swindle, for example, had a scheme of 11a/11b/11a/11b/13b repeated three times, a turn in the poem (or volta, to appropriate from the sonnet) of 13a/13a, and a conclusion of 11a/11a, both couplets. 

The composer can choose their structure and rhythm as they please: it's your poem! With The Swindle, I chose 11 and 13 syllables because I wanted to play with uneven numbers. I chose ababb because I wanted quintains. Together, it encouraged me to make the last line of each quintain slightly longer, telling me how to distribute the numbers.

Vanity
Servants sweetly Tomcat treated, torpid tongues his body greeted,
Smoothly stroking his erection, yet he felt extreme dejection;
In the parlor softly seated, callous Cat stared forth, conceited,
At glinting glass, feeling cheated, in his twin no flaws repeated,
Eyeing coldly his complexion, pondering his imperfection;

In the parlor softly seated, callous Cat stared forth, conceited,
Watching, wary, his reflection, weary, rapt, without affection;

Adoration undefeated, senses soaring, uncompleted,
Every inch met close inspection, disallowing all protection,
Watching, wary, his reflection, weary, rapt, without affection,
Every inch met close inspection, disallowing protection,
Adoration undefeated, senses soaring, uncompleted,

Watching, wary, his reflection, weary, rapt, without affection,
In the parlor softly seated, callous Cat stared forth, conceited,

Eyeing coldly his complexion, pondering his imperfection;
That glinting glass, feeling cheated, in his twin no flaws repeated,
In the parlor softly seated, callous Cat stared forth, conceited,
Smoothly stroking his erection, yet he felt extreme dejection;
Siamese himself competed, mirror stained as he completed.


Have a lovely rest of the week, my dear readers.


Large
The girth of your gut /
I love you, not despite it; /
I love you for it.

Difference
Though I stand so small /
Compared to your awesome size /
You hold me equal.

Pole
Clothing hits the ground /
Powerful thighs suspend me /
Spotlight centre stage.

Waiting
Blinded and deafened /
I lay, face down, quivering /
Anticipating.

-Charles Michael Averin