blog of poet, leah umansky | I Am My Own Heroine [poems]
Poetry is an art of imitation... that is to say, a representing, counterfeiting, or figuring forth--to speak metaphorically, a speaking picture... --Sir Philip Sidney, The Defence of Poesie
1970 : My father dresses me as Kaiser Wilhelm II, last monarch of the Second German Reich. I have little say in this, as I am three at the time. This is an early example of Chekhov’s famous dictum, “If a German helmet from the First World War (you know, the one with the spike on top) is sitting in the basement in the first act, then it must inspire a Halloween costume by the third act.” There’s a picture, of course: a chubby Kewpie doll with painted-on moustache, struggling to keep his head upright under th
1973 : I am Satan, on the theory that it is better to rule in Hell than serve in Heaven, though naturally I am unable to articulate this thought, as I am in the first grade. I am wearing a red tail, red horns and carrying the pitchfork. I am wearing a painted-on black moustache and goatee, which embarrasses me, as all makeup does, right through high school (thus sparing me from dressing up as Robert Smith). When I cavort in the elementary school parade, I am targeting souls for later acquisition, though my
blog of poet, leah umansky | I Am My Own Heroine [poems]