My Women, My Monsters: The Duchess of Lists

The Guenall Lioness, mentioned several blog posts ago, was a monster misidentified. Other monsters from my chapbook, My Women, My Monsters depict monsters within. Many can relate to the feeling of not living up to internalized demands. I’m no exception. It occurred to me that one manifestation of this was my compiling impossibly long "to do" lists, which would only exacerbate feelings of inadequacy at the end of the day when ruminating upon all those items not checked off the list. Enter the monstrous, "Duchess of Lists." Like the lists on her page, the poem also spilled out onto a second page. This left a blank area in need of a second illustration. For that I made a second detail drawing of the Duchess’ sleeve. But if you look carefully, Edvard Munch’s "Scream" is hidden up her sleeve.

A few lines from the Duchess:

The Duchess of Lists
is the sorceress of the clock’s hours.
She ties strings to your ankles,
adding weights for good measure
that hold you back to slow you down
as she speeds up time.

To reserve your copy of "My Women, My Monsters" follow the link to Finishing Line Press:  https://www.finishinglinepress.com/product/my-women-my-monsters-by-janet-kozachek/