"Red Rose"

[J. Janks]

Here is another poem by me, inspired by the possibilities and thoughts of what Panther Caroso (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:PantherSFA.jpg) would be like in fiction. (No, not the board member.) This one is dreary and sadistic, written metaphorically with some bits of ambiguity to evoke some level of suspense and mystery. This poem also ties in with a short story I’ll write later on today and post in the Fan Fic forum. Assuming you can figure out what he is doing in this piece, or by what he is developing you will come to understand the type of nature he assumes in the upcoming story, and just why he is doing it. Head over to the Star Fox Assault (http://www.starfox.com) website and read his profile, and then maybe it will provide you with more hints.

“Red Rose”

In these hands they said, a beating that used to be…
A Red Rose I gave to this art, made sure it bled.
At first, I heard the beat, the beat, the beat,
As these hands worked into the meat.
How its fur became brittle to the fold,
It lay cold, pale to the bone the room light shone
On the tool that carved in and out and in again.
I kept practice to this sin, in a form deplete,

In its eyes there I saw a reflection so sublime…
In their depiction was a masculine me, a deity
Complete with capacious ebony, a silky me.
Bare to the flesh, muscles throbbing to the music,
My craft’s wetness, dressed in red, and messy too—
I molded it in my likeness, into a far sexier thing;
It went without a struggle; it did not even blink.
I completed my art piece by bit, and soon they will see.

Copyright (c) '05 David R C.

[RoseRose]

I like this!!! It just spoke to me... i don't really understand it, but i like it

[J. Janks]

This poem is directly connected to its short story form, only that it is more explicit when it comes to details, and entails what Panther did to his first "art" piece. If you can read between the lines, it breaks down into this: Caroso is obviously a sadistic person; he uses his natural charm to lure his victims into a trap, and when he gets them where he wants them he rapes, murders, and then mutilates them. (This whole atrocity ties in with his Nintendo profile about why the Cornerian authorities have been hunting him down for the longest time.) You could read the short story and then come to this for another scenario, or vice versa; but to come from the short story to this here, here it seems more explicit and ridiculously evil.

To break the stanzas down and get a deeper meaning, a clearer description of what he is doing and why, you have to pick out the words that rhyme and use a little imagination to give those metaphors some depth. Let's begin with the first stanza...

In these hands they (said), a beating that used to be… [1]
A Red Rose I gave to this art, made sure it (bled). [2]
At first, I heard the (beat), the beat, the beat, [3]
As these hands worked into the (meat). [4]
How its fur became brittle to the (fold), [5]
It lay (cold), pale to the bone the room light shone [6]
On the tool that carved (in) and out and in (again). [7]
I kept practice to this (sin), in a form deplete, [8]

Here we have some obvious rhymes and slant rhymes. If you put two lines together, you get one particular sort of meaning, and an idea of how Panther is feeling or what he is thinking about. Putting the first and second lines together, the meaning here is how Panther went about preparing his "art" (the victim; the girl or the lioness in the story). Here he boasts about how he stopped her heartbeat, meaning he killed her in some fashion without making a mess. Here, his hands are his eyes doing all the work. One might think of strangulation, because in subsequent lines he goes on about how he went through the procedure of removing the strongest muscle in her body--her heart. At one point, to stop this beating heart of hers, he had to cut her somewhere, and that explains why she bled. (In the short story, I left it up to the reader's imagination as to how he killed the first girl.)

In lines three and four, you can only naturally assume the girl was still alive when he began to cut into her, using one of his personal cutting knives. But this is deception! The girl is already dead. It is his mind that is reliving the time when she was alive or when her heart did beat. He is so fascinated and aroused by how he is going to get to her heart. In actuality, it is his heart that is beating steadily. And, of course, the "meat" is referring to the feel of her chest just before, in the middle, or after he makes the incisions.

Lines five and six further reinforce the fact that the victim is dead. Her body is cold; her fur is brittle (possibly dampened and dried by blood). And as he is parting this victim's flesh, or pelt in this case, he makes a note how he has cut beyond muscle, reaching bone. This would be the girl's ribs or ribcage. The bone is so light in color that it reflects light. In turn, the room light reflects off the blade he is using. This is also symbolic about his nature for this kind of fetish he has with mutilating women--he is stoic (as he goes about his work).

In the last two lines, he says he has been doing this kind of thing for so long, that it has become a sin, but he keeps doing it because he likes to (the whole "in and out and in again" reference). The last line also points out that he is aware that he is taking a life, but he is under the delusion that he is actually freeing the soul of the individual, purifying it, but what he is really doing is tearing up a dead body. This is also a hint that maybe he is a necrophiliac too.

Moving on to the next stanza...

In its eyes there I saw a (reflection) so sublime… [1]
In their (depiction) was a masculine me, a deity [2]
Complete with capacious ebony, a (silky) me. [3]
Bare to the flesh, muscles throbbing to (the) music, [4]
My craft’s (wetness), dressed in red, and messy too— [5]
I molded it in my (likeness), into a far sexier thing; [6]
It went without a struggle; it did not even (blink). [7]
I completed my art (piece) by bit, and soon they will see. [8]

Here, in the first two lines, he is looking into the eyes of the victim, seeing himself--a greater person. Seeing himself do his "art" in the reflection of the dead person’s eyes makes him feel like he is a god, as most crazed persons tend to believe. Again, this is returning back to his arrogance (as an artist). Then, in the third and fourth lines, he describes what he sees in himself in the reflection; he sees a sexy panther looking back at him. He is muscular and naked. This is a part of his narcissism. He is also attracted to himself just as he is attracted to a dead female body appeals to him and his bizarre senses.

In the next two lines--five and six--he goes on a tangent about how his "female painting" has transformed into something new, after he has removed her heart, and he actually believes he has made her sexier than she ever were before when she was still breathing. In the final two lines, he commends his victim, although deceased, for being such a great work of art--well-behaved, quiet, and still. Now that he is done with the removal of the heart, the "art piece" infers the title of the poem "Red Rose," which is what he calls a raw heart he had transformed into a flower (by cutting slits into it and creating artificial petals). The last line is foreshadowing... about the Cornerian authorities after him. In storytelling, he usually takes and collects the "Red Roses" of each of his victims, and leaves a real rose behind in their chests to insult his pursuers. A red rose is also his calling card.

See? That wasn't so hard, was it? I know at times my poems sound like babbling, but I assure you they have incredible depth. It is only a matter of asking for an explanation if something is unclear. :D

[RoseRose]

Wow! Thanks! It had a great depth to it.... i loved it.... *smiles softly*

[Sean Kaiser]

I kinda like this twisted version of Panther! :D

I'm trying to put this in context of his feud with Sean in my stories (they don't like each other). And it's starting to look creepy. 0.o

[J. Janks]

I like the sadistic personality that I've given the panther. :D Go read "Red Rose" and "A Rose For The Girls" to see what he is like (according to me). :p

[MEGAKATT]

this is to J.Janks

[MEGAKATT]

this is to J.Janks

i liked your poem(and if you see like more of these its cuz my computer is messing up)"red rose" i like to write poetry to but mostly im not much of printing or sharen mine 4 some reeosn . bye :)

[Megafoxy]

Hey MegaKatt!! Yeah J.Janks Your peoms are pretty cool. :D

[Tiger Cat]

Wow. Those are really good.