Draped in Mythology, Kara LC Jones

Draped in Mythology
by Kara LC Jones

She stood staring
into the bathroom mirror.
Her body felt different,
Mind rolled over
simple events
she’d paid no heed to…

retching when brushing her teeth,
fatigue in the heat of summer,
inability to walk to town
without feeling asphyxiated

Her body felt draped
in a mythology she could not understand.
She did not understand
the mirror image staring back at her.

Stepping back,
she felt the world slip away from her.
A thick, red velvet cape
surrounded her as the unfathomable happened:

blood and body
began its escape
covering the floor,
flooding the bath,
seeping into the ground
beneath the blooming flowers,
fading summer to fall.

Her body emptied itself,

princes
dragon’s blood
ghosts of slain kings.

When the fully formed sac
found its way to the dirt and seed,
she felt consumed
by earth and worms,
the very beings who would
reclaim her fallen prince,

and she ached.

She returned to the mirror.
It was not the fairest of all reflected.
Rather the show was
an echo of grief,
an empty clay pot.

And when the rains came,
she was forced to
let go the physical,

nothing left

but the
draping of a mythology

she did not want to understand.

:::

about this poem.
Kara's poem title from & resulting new work inspired by the book Walking on Alligators. This piece was originally published on Mother Henna's website Draped in Mythology.


about the artist.
Kara is the Radical Creative behind all things MotherHenna.com. In 1999, after the death of their son Dakota, Kara and her partner Hawk co-founded Kota Press (KOTA: Knowing Ourselves Thru Art), an expressive arts outreach. Through their KOTA work and in partnership with the MISS Foundation, they have been mentoring other bereaved parents and caregivers around the world, offering creative perspectives on learning to life again after loss. As a coach to private clients, Kara facilitates the exploration of grief and creativity using many tools for alternative mind, body, spiritual health. Some of her specialties include henna art, heART-making, co-active coaching, Reiki, Tapping, asking the answerable questions and more. Kara keeps a radical creativity blog at Mother HennaKota Loss & Compassion Blog. Kara has been featured on still life 365 with her scrapbook page for her son Dakota, her poem Take-out Order, and her poem the After Life. The still life 365 community is mourning with Kara and her husband for the recent loss of her second son, Mizuko Star.