Last month, I read a selection of Tim Burton’s poems.

Those one evince a tormented and a bit glaucous nature. I don’t really like the universe of this artist, it makes me feel ill at ease. For me, it’s like if the director had the need to show us his most deep fears. I could say that it shows a lack of decency but it’s more a psychological need that scares and repels me a little bit.

His films are known for this universe he created. Of course, it’s really personal and it’s admirable but I can’t help looking at his work with a critical eye. He doesn’t leave this creation to discover another register. And the greatest artists are, for most of us, those who can change during their work – change their register but also their aesthetic and their subjects. Tim Burton doesn’t really change it, between Edward Scissorhands and Frankenweenie, including Corpse Bride, his world his always dark and mixed of sadness and death.

However, his poems were easy to read and light compared to what I expected. This one his one of my favorites, even if it’s dark, here there is humour and irony :

Voodoo Girl

« Her skin is white cloth,

and she’s all sewn apart

and she has many colored pins

sticking out of her heart.

She has a beautiful set

of hypno-disk eyes,

the ones that she uses

to hypnotize guys.

She has many different zombies

who are deeply in her trance

she even has a zombie

who was originally from France.

But she knows she has a curse on her,

a curse she cannot win.

For if someone gets

too close to her,

the pins stick farther in.  »

The following picture is a selection of different Tim Burton’s illustrations for his poems :

https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-ISAaks8A-uE/VGJW5hg-9UI/AAAAAAAAHjU/cGkdRTSd-vg/s1600/famillemonstre.jpg