I do like the number three and use it quite a bit. And I did want to contrast the small amount of poetic language with the more mundane narrative language, as a means of developing character. Monica Belluci, on the other hand, hadn’t ocurred to me (though she plays an interesting victim of fate, and people, in Malèna) though I did have an image of the first fate pictured in my mind: she looked a lot like Janeane Garofalo. Not that it matters much.

The inspiration for this poem came about after reading James Tate’s “Memoir of the Hawk”, from which I got the idea to write about a mundane situation, with a strange element imposed on the scenario, then treat it as matter-of-factly as possible. Like Tate (except he does it much better and far more humorously.) That same day, I’d also come across a reference to the Greek personification of three fates (who arbitrarily control the birth, life and death of every person) and thought it might be interesting to place them in a modern setting, interacting with an unsuspecting character. The ideas came together first with a bit of dialogue for each fate (to establish their identities) and then the story grew around that. I had no idea where it would end up until it was finished. Much like fate.

In many ways, the whole point of the poem was only to try and establish strong characters through dialogue and minimal description, and then to try and make a captivating narrative as well. So any implied meanings were secondary. Which means I incorporated stuff as it occurred to me while writing and never gave much thought to a grand idea or any kind of philosophizing. But as things arose, I exploited them to give a pseudo-depth to the poem. Because I’m a poetry whore. But I liked the outcome. Except for the ending, which seemed too heavy and contrived. But, “oh well.” It was the second round of action for each of the fates and I though Death should exemplify herself with a big surreal bang. So, no sleep-walkers either. Just a poet trying to find a way to end his poem.

Also, I think any poem about fate should include a waiter – waiting on fate. I hope he got a good tip.

The story gets me to thinking: 1). Is the main character just a nice guy in the wrong place at the wrong time; 2). Should he have made a choice between the 3 ‘fates’?; and 3). He should have never scootched out his chair in agitation when wine poured on him accidentally. These are just my own perceptions. In a tragedy like this, it’s natural for the reader to ask: “what could he have done to save himself?” i.e. to avoid this situation. But ulteriorally, i think it’s just fate, or meant to be. WHERE ARE YOU FREEWILL?!? Is there such a thing? I function better when i believe so, but need to be reminded of it with stories like this.

I hope this is not taken as an insult, the piece stands on its own, but it would so totally make a cool ‘Heavy Metal’ (graphic arts mag) skit. Thanks for the story Mr. Benz!