Miranda Barnes

methods for exorcism

We humans have a well-documented
tendency towards hubris. Despite all
suggestion, ‘hubris’ is not a small, humped,
bristly mammal with delusions of grandeur
and a mood disorder. It is not, also, a lipstick
shade named for haughty seduction and the
colour of a wine stain. Lastly, though the tone
of pronunciation might suggest, nor is it the
official term for the shape of a high-heeled
shoe.

In our introductory scene, we see a girl
approaching the chapel on Sunday. The girl
walks in, takes a seat, many eyes following
her to the cushioned end of a wooden pew.
One can see the eyes are not kind in their
demeanour. A later scene reveals the girl
looking down at the dirt path just beyond the
toes of her shoes. The girl is chastised for
wearing red shoes to church.

The girl has a choice: to never wear the red
shoes again, hiding them in shame at the
back of her wardrobe; or, wear the red shoes
every Sunday to church until she walks out
the doors for the last time and doesn’t bother
returning, realising it is full of ghosts.
Realising it is a machine for a certain
benevolent fascism. Realising she is in need
of a different kind of exorcism. One in which
red shoes would be perfectly appropriate for
the occasion.

She is a warm, soft, and fuzzy mammal with
a mood disorder. She is well-documented for
her hubris. She wears lipstick the shade of
haughty seduction. Her smile is a wine stain.
The proper way to exorcise the ghost in the
machine is to determine the dance with
which to begin. It is in the exact shape of a
high-heeled shoe.

Miranda Lynn Barnes is a poet from the USA now living near Nottingham, England. She is the author of the pamphlet Blue Dot Aubade (V. Press, 2020) and Formulations (Small Press/Tangent Books, 2022), a chapbook of new poetic forms based in chemistry, co-authored with Stephen Paul Wren. Miranda’s poems are published widely in journals and anthologies in the UK and abroad. Her poem ‘In the Pines’ won second place in the Verve Poetry Competition 2023. Find out more at https://mirandalynnbarnes.wordpress.com/

Miranda wrote the following about ‘Methods for Exorcism’:

This poem is one of those rare ones that sprung out nearly fully-formed. The narrator’s voice, setting the scene for the reader in an almost documentary tone, arrived as the appropriate vehicle by instinct. But the core nugget of this poem was an examination of a very mammalian, flawed, but naturally human girl navigating the absurd judgement of religious condemnation and making a choice about her situation. The reader is walked through this scenario by way of linguistic conjecture, scene setting, and ultimately a keen and freeing realisation. She will dance in her red shoes and leave ‘benevolent fascism’ behind.