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"Flash and Violence"
one by one, My senses ignite like a switch flipped
tentatively, I feel around Me and know:
I am a collective of strange, strange beings,
newly born and assaulting the night
lope between branches of lightning, multiplying in its wake
scales, fur, and feathers; the slobber, the venom flow free
I am like nothing for I am Everything
ecstasy is brighter than pain
rise above a rain of gunfire and missiles—
they can’t stop Me with fragments of metal
the sum of Me covers every acre
the whole of Me tramples, howls, revels, snarls
this world will succumb now
men try to destroy Me with guns and bombs, fire and knives
I am too many, too much
claws, fins, and talons—with every explosion I increase
I am a collective of strange, new beings
flickering yellow eyes, glinting bloody teeth are flashes of light
“Sanguivore”
Like blood for love
sick mothers-to-be
.....transfuse themselves for our sakes
all of us in blood born
in time
.....we inhale the breaths of others
Like blood for water
we drink of divine and enter into it
ease down egg dishes
.....or blessings from Opuntia
lick the killer from Nazca
.....who left his brother's body unburied
taste the homely bride in a black mask
.....who murdered her sisters for comfort
Like blood for riches
.....this colonial hunger
we crawl through a cavernous dark
.....to strike a shining vein
slung across the backs of beasts,
.....relieve them of the sacred burden
Like blood for wine
gore over nectar for nectar
.....fails to fill us
in our post-chrysalid hypnopomp,
.....unfurl ichorous victory flags
.....and after an airing take to wing
for blood calls to blood
.....lullabies of battle blossomy
while the wounds are fresh
.....we descend to dine
Any feedback welcome! I'm trying to improve in poetry since I'm weak at that sort of thing.
Post-edit ramble:
I keep revising these poems, so they look different from when I first put them up. This is about my third or fourth go, especially at "Sanguivore," which now has two more verses. I think I've made "The Stranger Forgot His Coat" more palatable. I can't tell if I've strayed into pure self-indulgence or if I've improved it.
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"Flash and Violence"
one by one, My senses ignite like a switch flipped
tentatively, I feel around Me and know:
I am a collective of strange, strange beings,
newly born and assaulting the night
with sounds of My violent rapture
lope between branches of lightning, multiplying in its wake
scales, fur, and feathers; the slobber, the venom flow free
I am like nothing for I am Everything
ecstasy is brighter than pain
rise above a rain of gunfire and missiles—
they can’t stop Me with fragments of metal
I’m shrieking with violent rapture
the sum of Me covers every acre
the whole of Me tramples, howls, revels, snarls
this world will succumb now
men try to destroy Me with guns and bombs, fire and knives
I am too many, too much
claws, fins, and talons—with every explosion I increase
I am a collective of strange, new beings
I live I live
I live
flickering yellow eyes, glinting bloody teeth are flashes of light
in the darkness
“The Stranger Forgot His Coat”
There’s a backstreet that shuns
a stuttering gate; up some steps
a townhouse. Front door, unlocked,
if opened could frame a still life:
Hand mirror missing its handle
beside a sleeping lamp on
a table scored with cigarette scars
Shattered champagne bottle and
roses, once certain in their whiteness, now doubtful
A curling photograph sums up
memories laid out in stacks of jaundiced letters
Birdless cage a drifting voyeur
A mute clock tilts a timeless face
Thunderstorm confronts the calm
and the smell
Gust rocks the refrigerator door
for lack of a better lover
A coat, someone's coat, like a throw across the chaise
Reading glasses decipher the hand-knotted rug
in the narrow hallway, expounding
theories about the redness in the pattern
Answering machine unanswered
no one thought to ask questions
There's a silence
and the smell
There’s a backstreet that shuns
a stuttering gate; up some steps
a townhouse. Front door, unlocked,
if opened could frame a still life:
Hand mirror missing its handle
beside a sleeping lamp on
a table scored with cigarette scars
Shattered champagne bottle and
roses, once certain in their whiteness, now doubtful
A curling photograph sums up
memories laid out in stacks of jaundiced letters
Birdless cage a drifting voyeur
A mute clock tilts a timeless face
Thunderstorm confronts the calm
and the smell
Gust rocks the refrigerator door
for lack of a better lover
A coat, someone's coat, like a throw across the chaise
Reading glasses decipher the hand-knotted rug
in the narrow hallway, expounding
theories about the redness in the pattern
Answering machine unanswered
no one thought to ask questions
There's a silence
and the smell
“Sanguivore”
Like blood for love
sick mothers-to-be
.....transfuse themselves for our sakes
all of us in blood born
in time
.....we inhale the breaths of others
Like blood for water
we drink of divine and enter into it
ease down egg dishes
.....or blessings from Opuntia
lick the killer from Nazca
.....who left his brother's body unburied
taste the homely bride in a black mask
.....who murdered her sisters for comfort
Like blood for riches
.....this colonial hunger
we crawl through a cavernous dark
.....to strike a shining vein
slung across the backs of beasts,
.....relieve them of the sacred burden
Like blood for wine
gore over nectar for nectar
.....fails to fill us
in our post-chrysalid hypnopomp,
.....unfurl ichorous victory flags
.....and after an airing take to wing
for blood calls to blood
.....lullabies of battle blossomy
while the wounds are fresh
.....we descend to dine
Any feedback welcome! I'm trying to improve in poetry since I'm weak at that sort of thing.
Post-edit ramble:
I keep revising these poems, so they look different from when I first put them up. This is about my third or fourth go, especially at "Sanguivore," which now has two more verses. I think I've made "The Stranger Forgot His Coat" more palatable. I can't tell if I've strayed into pure self-indulgence or if I've improved it.
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.
