Woman of Wood

by Kathrin Köhler

Listen to the poem from the woman's perspective:

Listen to the poem from the man's perspective:

Listen to the poem read as a whole:

he came at me with an ax,
blow after blow lightning sharp, but cold,
and he cleaved me in two —

                                       He made her out of wood,
                                       his wife —
                                       cut down the prize walnut of his newly purchased farm
                                       and carved her out of the trunk.

severed my roots, threw my limbs in a heap
and dragged me to his home —
he came at me with chisels and knives

                                       He began with her eyes,
                                       deep brown, and an expression he had not intended,
                                       rendering her incapable
                                       of not watching as he

turned my flesh into sawdust
taking from me until I became
less.

                                       whittled her down to size.
                                       Custom-made
                                       she fit better than a well worn chair.

Every morning he hands me an ax and has me split wood
in the clearing behind his cabin. There is something
about the way he watches me
as I light the cooking fire —

Kathrin Köhler's favourite fruit is the Durian fruit. Drupes were around back when mammals were dominated by giant lizards and were barely surviving. While munching primeval fruits Kathrin likes to contemplate the paradigm of language and the paradox of human existence. She also writes and reads, bakes and bikes, and engages in other alliterative activities. She's a poet who has recently picked up the bad habit of writing short stories. Her poem "Stardust" won first place in the Baltimore Science Fiction Society's 2011 poetry contest. She wonders what a Goblin Fruit salad would taste like.

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