Don Quixote illustration (public domain)‘Tilted Tales’: Three Poems by Susan Jarvis Bryant The Society June 19, 2025 Culture, Poetry, Triolet, Villanelle 21 Comments . Clueless —a villanelle How can I tell what is and isn’t true In daffy days that stupefy the wise? I’m sifting through the chaos for a clue. As brain cells dwindle to a fruitless few All down to AI’s messianic rise, How can I tell what is and isn’t true? In windmill-tilting realms of cuckoo hue Where green machines swipe swallows from the skies, I’m sifting through the chaos for a clue. Now toddlers think in twinkly pink and blue And womanhood is worn by wily guys, How can I tell what is and isn’t true? As sharks and shills confess their expert view Was just a vexing pack of vaxing lies, I’m sifting through the chaos for a clue. I hear the fat cats bark and asses coo. I smell the dirty dogs with shifty eyes. How can I tell what is and isn’t true? I’m sifting through the chaos for a clue. . . Till I Cry —a triolet Our orb grows odder by the minute— My cheery chortles bring release. I’ll howl when odd has reached its limit. Our orb grows odder by the minute. It’s saner with a snigger in it— These days my giggles never cease. Our orb grows odder by the minute— My teary chortles bring release. . . Once Upon a Tortured Trope Don’t ever judge crooks by their lovers, they say _On book covers nailed to the wall. The frog sends his kiss at the bend of the day _To Belle who is beast of the ball. As tough as a cucumber, cool as old boots, _An untroubled damsel of flair Is shooting for stars. When the pussy-owl hoots _She snares a short prince with blonde hair. They sail inky skies on a silver-lined dream _To greener scenes up in the hills. But honey and moons aren’t as sweet as they seem _When cats and dogs reign and milk spills. His rose bears a thorn and his shoulder, a chip. _Hyenas have stolen his laughter. All charm hits the skids as she grapples to slip _The grip of his gripe ever after. _ First published in Snakeskin _ _ Susan Jarvis Bryant is a poet originally from the U.K., now living on the Gulf Coast of Texas. NOTE TO READERS: If you enjoyed this poem or other content, please consider making a donation to the Society of Classical Poets. The Society of Classical Poets does not endorse any views expressed in individual poems or commentary. ***Read Our Comments Policy Here*** 21 Responses Roy Eugene Peterson June 19, 2025 Such sincere satire stiffens the spine supporting the stupefying scenes that now surround us. “Clueless” left me breathless as I “sifted” extant in each verse and punctuated by the conclusion. “Till I Cry” was a great progression from the first inclination of giving a “cheery chortle” to the “teary” one at the end. “Once Upon a Tortured Trope” almost seemed inspired by “The Owl and the Pussy Cat” surveying the dysfunctional relationship. How much enjoyment and fun from your typically biting satire! Reply Susan Jarvis Bryant June 21, 2025 Roy, thank you! I just love the sweet song of sibilance in the opening lines of your comment – a poem in itself! And I’m thrilled you were swept up in the fun… a mad world deserves all the mocking I can muster. Reply Joseph S. Salemi June 19, 2025 “Clueless” and “Till I Cry” are solid evidence that the old French forms are still alive and well. The first is a perfect snapshot of a world gone stark, raving mad, or “batshit-crazy,” as we say in Noo Yawk. The second is more personal, and necessarily condensed in the shorter triolet form. It speaks of an odd world, and asserts that the human reaction to that oddness is either laughter or tears. The rhyme and meter are flawless in both poems. I find “Once Upon a Tortured Trope” to be much denser, and harder to unravel critically. The dominant dactylic stresses really pound the reader, and the intricate winding together of stress, rhyme, and a majority of monosyllabic words conceals the subject somewhat. The basic account seems to be of a courtship and marriage of a damsel (or “Belle”) to a prince (or a frog). They set off on dreams to a honeymoon that turns sour. The prince is revealed to be unpleasant or offensive in some manner, and the damsel forlornly hopes that she can someday escape from him. This could be read as a parodic version of the typical fairy-tale myth about a poor girl realizing her romantic dream of being chosen by Prince Charming, with the reverse ending of how the whole business turns out badly. But the proverbial goodness and innocence of the girl is subverted by the words that she is “As tough as a cucumber, cool as old boots” (a nice reversal!), and she is an “untroubled damsel of flair” as she goes “shooting for stars.” In other words she’s a sophisticated woman on the make, looking to marry a prince. Instead of a fairy tale, it is a real-world narrative of mundane husband-hunting. The whole poem plays with cliche statements by changing or inverting them in some manner. Examples: Don’t judge books by their covers It’s raining cats and dogs The end of the day Shoot for the stars Spilt milk Roses have thorns To have a chip on your shoulder I’m sure there are other common phrases that Susan has taken apart and revised here for comic or satiric purposes. But the more important point is this: Susan is acting as a “maker” here — that is, a poet. She’s using her knowledge of language and of received texts and she is refiguring both things to make an utterly new verbal product. No wonder Susan uses “Tortured Trope” in the title! The romantic Cinderella myth is retold in a more worldly-wise fashion, common phrases are bent to suit new purposes, and we end with a rotten marriage that is a lot truer to real life than the Cinderella story. This is fictive mimesis! Reply Susan Jarvis Bryant June 21, 2025 Joe, it’s always a privilege to have your fine eye cast over my efforts. I love working with French forms and I’m over the moon you appreciate the results. A batshit-bonkers world (as we say in the UK) deserves to be mocked (creatively, of course) … I take great delight in doing it melodiously. I also love to write poems that can be enjoyed at more than one level. I thoroughly appreciate readers who peel back the layers for that little something extra buried beneath the surface. I had huge fun with twisting tropes and I’m over the moon you unraveled the weird wonder of my take on these old chestnuts in my third poem. Joe, thank you very much indeed. Reply Jeff Eardley June 19, 2025 Susan, I just love “Tortured Trope” which I keep re-reading just for the hell of it, and there are so many good lines in “Clueless” that I don’t know where to start. Where did “Windmill Tilting Realms of Cuckoo Hue”come from? Please keep on chortling, sniggering and giggling. Great to read today. Reply Susan Jarvis Bryant June 21, 2025 Jeff, it’s always lovely to hear from you. Thank you for your kind and encouraging comment. As for my “windmill tilting realms of cuckoo hue” – that is how I see the world I live in… perhaps the Texas sun has gotten to what’s left of my frazzled brain. I simply can’t keep up with the insanity… perhaps I’m becoming a tad cuckoo-hued myself. Jeff, thank you for making me smile. Reply Cynthia L Erlandson June 19, 2025 “AI’s messianic rise” — what a great phrase, in a poem that could have been written by a perceptive prophet viewing the fall of a civilization. (Actually I guess it was!) “a vexing pack of vaxing lies” and “womanhood is worn by wily guys” are my other favorite phrases.) And your Tortured Trope has jumped over the moon with its cleverness before the dish could run away with the spoon! (or something like that….) Reply Susan Jarvis Bryant June 24, 2025 Cynthia, thank you very much for such a wonderful comment. With your prophet observation – the term “doom and gloom” springs to mind. I can honestly say the world has never felt darker to me than it does at this hour… and I find it hard to believe that many are carrying on oblivious to the insidiousness enveloping them. Many are engaging with AI as if AI were the omnipotent oracle of the universe… I fear this won’t end well. I have a special place in my heart for Jeremiah. 😉 Reply Mark Stellinga June 20, 2025 Susan, both your ‘cheery’ & your ‘teary’ chortles bring ‘Release’ for us all on a monthly basis, bless your heart, and – while each piece is both meterally & rhymerially SJB-perfect – ‘Cluless’, IMO, is a veritable masterpiece. Its particular rhyme scheme, as most of us know, and at this length, is both extremely difficult and VERY impressive. The quality of your work is literarily as good as it gets, my dear. Be well… Reply Susan Jarvis Bryant June 24, 2025 Mark, I’m always happy to entertain you with my poetry and I’m thrilled you enjoyed this collection. I had a lot of inspiration with “Clueless” – it’s one of those poems that seemed to write itself. Your appreciation and your encouragement are always motivating. Thank you very much indeed! Reply Brian Yapko June 20, 2025 All three poems, Susan, are classic satiric perfection. The villanelle is a tricky form to do well and your “Clueless” is handled superlatively. Each repetend evolves in a way that both extends and documents the speaker’s plaints, from AI to gender confusion to Covid lies to those cats and dogs who run the show and do it so manipulatively and dishonestly. How can one properly read the clues? Especially since we can never take anything – ANYTHING – at face value anymore. The “O”-heavy language of “Till I Cry” is quite clever. The poem is funny until it gives way to tears, but the repetitive “O” sounds really turn this into something of a keening lament. Cheery chortles become teary chortles. The oh-ho-ho we start out with becomes something more like a sobbing “Oh, oh, oh” by the end. My favorite of the three is “Tortured Trope” which is great fun, riddled with wordplay and the fracturing of the tropes and bromides that we usually take for granted. The subject of the piece is the devolution of gender roles and the torturing of language serves as a linguistic corollary to that devolution. Your poem is funny but there is a most peculiar aspect to this: all of it is within the realm of what we actually see and hear every day. A Belle who is the beast of the ball, a prince who is blond and short rather than tall and manly. Everything is upside down in the poem BECAUSE it is upside down outside on the street. Your poem connects the absurd twisting of language with the fractured fairytale that is the modern world. It’s both clever and observant. Wonderful work! Reply Susan Jarvis Bryant June 24, 2025 Brian, it’s always a treat to have your fine eye cast over my poetic offerings. I am always thrilled when you spot exactly what I’m trying to get across. Your: “we can never take anything – ANYTHING – at face value anymore.” observation was the motivation behind this villanelle. What a weird and wicked world we inhabit. What is sold to us as “truth” is as far from the truth as I thought possible… yet many believe the lies, and they’re not even carefully disguised any more. All the blatant clues need to be followed straight to the history tomes for the answer to today’s madness – it’s humiliating and it isn’t pleasant. I’m particularly pleased you noticed the aural aspects of my oh-so-woeful triolet. I love sound effects – and how apt they are in lyric forms. You get straight to the heart of my tortured tropes and reveal the angst beneath the laughter. If gender is skewed any further the human race will be going the way of the dodo. I suppose we can look on the bright side – our gasping globe will be breathing easy in our absence. Brian, thank you very much indeed! Reply Yael June 20, 2025 I love all your tilted tales Susan, and I don’t mind if you torture a few tropes as long as it’s all done in good taste and refined style such as you did here. I’d rather see a trope tortured than a triolet any day. The Don Quixote illustration is a great match too, thank you. Reply Susan Jarvis Bryant June 24, 2025 Yael, a comment from your good self is always a treat. You certainly have a handle on exactly what is going on in today’s warped world, and I appreciate your wisdom. And YES! That illustration is perfect. Thank you very much, Yael, and thank you, Evan! Reply Russel Winick June 22, 2025 Susan – I found “Clueless” to be particularly poignant. But I respectfully submit that you know precisely what is and isn’t true! Reply Susan Jarvis Bryant June 24, 2025 Russel, thank you. And sadly, you are right. “Experts” have taken a backseat to my instincts and my conscience these strange days and they have given me great cause for alarm. Ignorance really is bliss! Reply C.B. Anderson June 24, 2025 The poet is such a well-knit wit that she beggars comparison — who else has ever done so much in such a short time? These poems are irresistible confections that stimulate both the aural palate and the ever-hungry brain. Reply Susan Jarvis Bryant June 24, 2025 C.B., thank you very much indeed for your unique and utterly wonderful comment. I am sorely tempted to bask in the glory of your praise… but wouldn’t that make me a nitwit? I know, I’m only as good as my last poem… and my tropes poem entered the realms of stupidity. Reply Joseph S. Salemi June 25, 2025 “Entered the realms of stupidity,” Susan? Not at all. No more than Richard Sheridan did when he created Mrs. Malaprop. The “Tortured Trope” poem was brilliant parodic spoof. Susan Jarvis Bryant June 25, 2025 Joe, you have made my day! Brian Yapko June 25, 2025 I hope you’re having a lovely brillig, Susan. Just for the record, Joe is 100% correct. Leave a Reply Cancel ReplyYour email address will not be published.CommentName* Email* Website Δ This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.
Roy Eugene Peterson June 19, 2025 Such sincere satire stiffens the spine supporting the stupefying scenes that now surround us. “Clueless” left me breathless as I “sifted” extant in each verse and punctuated by the conclusion. “Till I Cry” was a great progression from the first inclination of giving a “cheery chortle” to the “teary” one at the end. “Once Upon a Tortured Trope” almost seemed inspired by “The Owl and the Pussy Cat” surveying the dysfunctional relationship. How much enjoyment and fun from your typically biting satire! Reply
Susan Jarvis Bryant June 21, 2025 Roy, thank you! I just love the sweet song of sibilance in the opening lines of your comment – a poem in itself! And I’m thrilled you were swept up in the fun… a mad world deserves all the mocking I can muster. Reply
Joseph S. Salemi June 19, 2025 “Clueless” and “Till I Cry” are solid evidence that the old French forms are still alive and well. The first is a perfect snapshot of a world gone stark, raving mad, or “batshit-crazy,” as we say in Noo Yawk. The second is more personal, and necessarily condensed in the shorter triolet form. It speaks of an odd world, and asserts that the human reaction to that oddness is either laughter or tears. The rhyme and meter are flawless in both poems. I find “Once Upon a Tortured Trope” to be much denser, and harder to unravel critically. The dominant dactylic stresses really pound the reader, and the intricate winding together of stress, rhyme, and a majority of monosyllabic words conceals the subject somewhat. The basic account seems to be of a courtship and marriage of a damsel (or “Belle”) to a prince (or a frog). They set off on dreams to a honeymoon that turns sour. The prince is revealed to be unpleasant or offensive in some manner, and the damsel forlornly hopes that she can someday escape from him. This could be read as a parodic version of the typical fairy-tale myth about a poor girl realizing her romantic dream of being chosen by Prince Charming, with the reverse ending of how the whole business turns out badly. But the proverbial goodness and innocence of the girl is subverted by the words that she is “As tough as a cucumber, cool as old boots” (a nice reversal!), and she is an “untroubled damsel of flair” as she goes “shooting for stars.” In other words she’s a sophisticated woman on the make, looking to marry a prince. Instead of a fairy tale, it is a real-world narrative of mundane husband-hunting. The whole poem plays with cliche statements by changing or inverting them in some manner. Examples: Don’t judge books by their covers It’s raining cats and dogs The end of the day Shoot for the stars Spilt milk Roses have thorns To have a chip on your shoulder I’m sure there are other common phrases that Susan has taken apart and revised here for comic or satiric purposes. But the more important point is this: Susan is acting as a “maker” here — that is, a poet. She’s using her knowledge of language and of received texts and she is refiguring both things to make an utterly new verbal product. No wonder Susan uses “Tortured Trope” in the title! The romantic Cinderella myth is retold in a more worldly-wise fashion, common phrases are bent to suit new purposes, and we end with a rotten marriage that is a lot truer to real life than the Cinderella story. This is fictive mimesis! Reply
Susan Jarvis Bryant June 21, 2025 Joe, it’s always a privilege to have your fine eye cast over my efforts. I love working with French forms and I’m over the moon you appreciate the results. A batshit-bonkers world (as we say in the UK) deserves to be mocked (creatively, of course) … I take great delight in doing it melodiously. I also love to write poems that can be enjoyed at more than one level. I thoroughly appreciate readers who peel back the layers for that little something extra buried beneath the surface. I had huge fun with twisting tropes and I’m over the moon you unraveled the weird wonder of my take on these old chestnuts in my third poem. Joe, thank you very much indeed. Reply
Jeff Eardley June 19, 2025 Susan, I just love “Tortured Trope” which I keep re-reading just for the hell of it, and there are so many good lines in “Clueless” that I don’t know where to start. Where did “Windmill Tilting Realms of Cuckoo Hue”come from? Please keep on chortling, sniggering and giggling. Great to read today. Reply
Susan Jarvis Bryant June 21, 2025 Jeff, it’s always lovely to hear from you. Thank you for your kind and encouraging comment. As for my “windmill tilting realms of cuckoo hue” – that is how I see the world I live in… perhaps the Texas sun has gotten to what’s left of my frazzled brain. I simply can’t keep up with the insanity… perhaps I’m becoming a tad cuckoo-hued myself. Jeff, thank you for making me smile. Reply
Cynthia L Erlandson June 19, 2025 “AI’s messianic rise” — what a great phrase, in a poem that could have been written by a perceptive prophet viewing the fall of a civilization. (Actually I guess it was!) “a vexing pack of vaxing lies” and “womanhood is worn by wily guys” are my other favorite phrases.) And your Tortured Trope has jumped over the moon with its cleverness before the dish could run away with the spoon! (or something like that….) Reply
Susan Jarvis Bryant June 24, 2025 Cynthia, thank you very much for such a wonderful comment. With your prophet observation – the term “doom and gloom” springs to mind. I can honestly say the world has never felt darker to me than it does at this hour… and I find it hard to believe that many are carrying on oblivious to the insidiousness enveloping them. Many are engaging with AI as if AI were the omnipotent oracle of the universe… I fear this won’t end well. I have a special place in my heart for Jeremiah. 😉 Reply
Mark Stellinga June 20, 2025 Susan, both your ‘cheery’ & your ‘teary’ chortles bring ‘Release’ for us all on a monthly basis, bless your heart, and – while each piece is both meterally & rhymerially SJB-perfect – ‘Cluless’, IMO, is a veritable masterpiece. Its particular rhyme scheme, as most of us know, and at this length, is both extremely difficult and VERY impressive. The quality of your work is literarily as good as it gets, my dear. Be well… Reply
Susan Jarvis Bryant June 24, 2025 Mark, I’m always happy to entertain you with my poetry and I’m thrilled you enjoyed this collection. I had a lot of inspiration with “Clueless” – it’s one of those poems that seemed to write itself. Your appreciation and your encouragement are always motivating. Thank you very much indeed! Reply
Brian Yapko June 20, 2025 All three poems, Susan, are classic satiric perfection. The villanelle is a tricky form to do well and your “Clueless” is handled superlatively. Each repetend evolves in a way that both extends and documents the speaker’s plaints, from AI to gender confusion to Covid lies to those cats and dogs who run the show and do it so manipulatively and dishonestly. How can one properly read the clues? Especially since we can never take anything – ANYTHING – at face value anymore. The “O”-heavy language of “Till I Cry” is quite clever. The poem is funny until it gives way to tears, but the repetitive “O” sounds really turn this into something of a keening lament. Cheery chortles become teary chortles. The oh-ho-ho we start out with becomes something more like a sobbing “Oh, oh, oh” by the end. My favorite of the three is “Tortured Trope” which is great fun, riddled with wordplay and the fracturing of the tropes and bromides that we usually take for granted. The subject of the piece is the devolution of gender roles and the torturing of language serves as a linguistic corollary to that devolution. Your poem is funny but there is a most peculiar aspect to this: all of it is within the realm of what we actually see and hear every day. A Belle who is the beast of the ball, a prince who is blond and short rather than tall and manly. Everything is upside down in the poem BECAUSE it is upside down outside on the street. Your poem connects the absurd twisting of language with the fractured fairytale that is the modern world. It’s both clever and observant. Wonderful work! Reply
Susan Jarvis Bryant June 24, 2025 Brian, it’s always a treat to have your fine eye cast over my poetic offerings. I am always thrilled when you spot exactly what I’m trying to get across. Your: “we can never take anything – ANYTHING – at face value anymore.” observation was the motivation behind this villanelle. What a weird and wicked world we inhabit. What is sold to us as “truth” is as far from the truth as I thought possible… yet many believe the lies, and they’re not even carefully disguised any more. All the blatant clues need to be followed straight to the history tomes for the answer to today’s madness – it’s humiliating and it isn’t pleasant. I’m particularly pleased you noticed the aural aspects of my oh-so-woeful triolet. I love sound effects – and how apt they are in lyric forms. You get straight to the heart of my tortured tropes and reveal the angst beneath the laughter. If gender is skewed any further the human race will be going the way of the dodo. I suppose we can look on the bright side – our gasping globe will be breathing easy in our absence. Brian, thank you very much indeed! Reply
Yael June 20, 2025 I love all your tilted tales Susan, and I don’t mind if you torture a few tropes as long as it’s all done in good taste and refined style such as you did here. I’d rather see a trope tortured than a triolet any day. The Don Quixote illustration is a great match too, thank you. Reply
Susan Jarvis Bryant June 24, 2025 Yael, a comment from your good self is always a treat. You certainly have a handle on exactly what is going on in today’s warped world, and I appreciate your wisdom. And YES! That illustration is perfect. Thank you very much, Yael, and thank you, Evan! Reply
Russel Winick June 22, 2025 Susan – I found “Clueless” to be particularly poignant. But I respectfully submit that you know precisely what is and isn’t true! Reply
Susan Jarvis Bryant June 24, 2025 Russel, thank you. And sadly, you are right. “Experts” have taken a backseat to my instincts and my conscience these strange days and they have given me great cause for alarm. Ignorance really is bliss! Reply
C.B. Anderson June 24, 2025 The poet is such a well-knit wit that she beggars comparison — who else has ever done so much in such a short time? These poems are irresistible confections that stimulate both the aural palate and the ever-hungry brain. Reply
Susan Jarvis Bryant June 24, 2025 C.B., thank you very much indeed for your unique and utterly wonderful comment. I am sorely tempted to bask in the glory of your praise… but wouldn’t that make me a nitwit? I know, I’m only as good as my last poem… and my tropes poem entered the realms of stupidity. Reply
Joseph S. Salemi June 25, 2025 “Entered the realms of stupidity,” Susan? Not at all. No more than Richard Sheridan did when he created Mrs. Malaprop. The “Tortured Trope” poem was brilliant parodic spoof.
Brian Yapko June 25, 2025 I hope you’re having a lovely brillig, Susan. Just for the record, Joe is 100% correct.
