“Galvanism — Notes to Victor Frankenstein”

a set of four free verse poems about Frankenstein that i did for a creative writing class :)

“Galvanism — Notes to Victor Frankenstein”

by nightshade

#1 - Ingolstadt

 I was torn from sleeping

darkness with a shock 

to the heart. I curled 

and writhed 

beneath a boy 

playing God. 

It wasn’t my choice 

to be his breakthrough.

My body

pliant as a doll’s.

My voice

mere echo.

A vision

of man’s morbid capability. 

My existence,

a stepping stone to

inelegant infamy. 

He created me,

the bloodthirsty wretch.

All I asked was silence,

all I asked was a reason.

Brittle with fear

and lonely once more,

not even a second life

was more kind to me.

—

#2 - Orkney Islands

He called himself

The Modern Prometheus.

Fire or purpose,

there was no difference. 

Watching through window panes,

observing the construction

of our promise.

My reason.

How ghastly must one be

to slaughter at will?

Not one breath

and my promise,

my beloved,

was gone. 

It was too late

to choose moral duty

when my very being

contradicted that. 

I threatened to be

the blight on his name,

the blood on his hands,

the carvings in his headstone. 

—

#3 - Lake Como

Angel of Death,

she was blindfolded

by the fabric of time

and love.

It was not an act

of scrutiny. 

An eye for an eye,

mate for a mate.

I felt his love through her

and wondered 

why not me? 

His creation.

Locks like dove feathers

on the half-empty bed.

Unmoving and silent,

cold and longing still. 

A part of me that he instilled

wondered if it was permanent. 

I convinced myself 

that I had been merciful.

—

#4 - Antarctica

A frostbite sting

pricks my heart

knowing I’m the reason

you never made it home.

It is mostly numb,

limited feeling in the 

skin you chose for me.

Yet it burns. 

I don’t think I will ever understand

why you were so joyful 

when you heard my heartbeat.

It is ice now

just like your body.

Dead and fragile like mine

and Elizabeth’s

and William’s.

I do not have to exist any longer.

There is nothing

tying me to this earth.

You are gone, and so am I. 

—