1. First
the refrigerator bumble-bees some monotonous crescendo
ice and thaw intonations of grr
and dances slow-wiggle vinyl vibrations as if to say:
"the honey's in the door
second shelf down
on the left-"
2. and
perhaps we kitchen naturalists with weapons of insect destruction
obsessed with ants, roaches, anti-bacterial battles, and the omnivore
struggle to eat away death
overlook
electric life of polychlor and plastic, sheet metal landscapes
where no seals scamper nor polar bears crush skulls;
the hum and the hidden engine.
3. so
i learned today some 200 different bacteria infect an inch of arm,
my dna may be 60 percent viral and yet my own
This makes me me, and what? it makes me ask
what grows inside the honey pools and why
does the honey pool
just so?
Author notes
Never sure if when people say left aligned they mean no variable spacing. If so I'll delete.
A contest entry
- A piece of You by Melissa Gayle.
1300 points, ended May 6, 2007, 8 entries
• next poem in this contest, remove from contest
Please tell me what you think
Comments
1 - 27 of 27
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such a cerebral undertaking in this. my mother has a saying that she says is common, that "everyone should eat at least a speck of dirt before they die". - I guess that was to mean they would have a healthier life along the way.
It is amazing though - for all of the germs we call, what will arise. After a few years of bone infections and hearing a dr. say - "this is the new best antibiotic" - I keep fearing the germ that will overcome that one as well. Such a viscious cycle indeed.
Well done, interesting and something to think about.
And -- the form worked too! (despite the left align question). Seems as though the flow of the piece didn't miss a beat in this one.
Kimmie
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Thanks Kimmie. My girlfriend has a propensity to bacterial infections and the related issues... she recently had a vicious staff infection, she's had lyme disease, etc. I've had a variety of people close to me fighting cancer recently, and I've been trying to get a handle on the notion of what comprises the "us" of us. In a way, it's an extension of trying to understand the relationships between people, what it is that constitutes groups and humanity. No firm answers yet, alas.
I like your mother. My family didn't have that saying, but we believed in getting a little dirty. It's a form of inoculation, I suppose.
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Sure, it may be somewhat abstract but this is so well put together that meaning is easily retracted like honey from a honeycomb.
Your word placement adds to the effect of the piece and the flow is really quite stunning. Excellent piece. -
And is it not interesting...honey is one of the few (if not only) foodstuffs that is bacteria resistant? Eh? And what does that mean?
We have moved our food into sterile places, far away from other predators...except those we cannot see...and they slowly become us..we them...symbiotic.
Love the messages herein...it's all quite not there, yet most definitely felt.
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and you are, of course, the poet of symbiosis... I definitely thought of you as I wrote this. I'm not sure why honey has the particular powers it does, fortunately, it's wonderful on home made biscuits. That's reason enough to keep it around.
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I am most honored.
Honey is best drizzled lightly over cornbread (scratch of course) before baking
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terrific, thought provoking.
I like it a lot. Honey pools to show that life is contained in a meniscus- in the refrigerator that society owns- dark and private when we are alone - materialistic, bright and surrounded by other garbage when opened - half jars of indecision, melted ice-cream of our dreams, shelves of rotting prejudice...so, eat away death, have your fill.. grr.
Richard
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I love the word meniscus.
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Excellent, abstract, creative.
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Hmmm, and you preach to me about getting out more and catching a tan?
Once I had a marvelous strawberry shake. My seven year old tongue was discovering earth shaking, universe bending tastes that popped my brain into cloudcuckooland.
Why owhy does honey pool just so and why o why do your words shake strawberry?
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You're right, I've been pale and pasty of late, but I did go to the beach for a day last weekend. I am now pale and pasty with a strawberry shaded back.
Milkshakes were about my favorite thing as a child, and I've carried the delight into adulthood (though banana is my favorite). They're probably the equivalent of william carlos williams plum... never leave one unattended in my refrigerator.
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You should ask Poohbear, he'd probably know, being an expert on honey you see. Or Owl. Though he'd probably just respond with some convoluded answer like Lute often does that requires much dissecting.
Zara once wrote a poem about the hum of the refridgerator ya know. It had berries in it. I think, yes, her food of thought were raspberries she had picked. Though I could be off on the variety of berries.
How about when lights talk? I think that is often strange. Crackly static of an old lightbulb ready to give out, or the hum of flourescents in a quiet office late at night.
Of course the more we disinfect the more infected we become. I actually laughed in the grocery store recently at a product one is to spray on children's toys to kill germs. Wonder what the chemical that kills germs does to the child AND the air?
While on vacation I read stacks and stacks and stacks of National Geographic magazines. Some that were up to 4 years old, didn't matter. I read about this guy who was walking Africa and has since helped to create in Gabon, a park of astounding natural beauty, he talked of drinking water directly from the stream and I was struck at that notion about how strange an experience that is for most of us. Once I did, I was a kid and we were in Pennsylvania.
Tangent, I'm on.
We are mostly viral. All of us. Its a shame cause really, I don't think it was intended to be this way.
Good poem.
Lisa
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I thought i saw a new one this morning but this isn't it... hmmm.. maybe i should stop smoking crack-
i like this- it is definitively brian-
m
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You really should lose the crack pipe, but I had posted a "variant" sonnet in a contest for sonnets. I was very politely informed that they wanted classical sonnets, so the poem went away... besides it need some work.
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ive been struggling for almost two weeks on a poem that is no better than sucky- perhaps we could switch and resolve eachother's dilemnas.. ?
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there are some absolutely brilliant lines in this that are so full of humor.. partly because of the image they present, and partly because they are so very apt.. like "kitchen naturalists" ..
I couldn't help but think of how so many seem to be cradled to sleep by the lull of civilization.. maybe that's why disasters always have that oh my god effect... the fridges have all hummed us numb into a sort of collective complacency lol ...
damn but I do love your writing..
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honey never tasted so sweet.... funny, how we try to sterilise everything, make it clean and supposedly safe... yet sometimes swallowing some grit or germ can be the best thing.... a little bit of "badness" keeps us alive
loved this Brian
G.x
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thanks, Gill. I'm one of those who believes in letting the kids get dirty and develop some immunities. that which does not kill us... (drives us mad and leads to poetry).
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me too... a little bit of dirt never really hurt anyone... if it's good muck...
being a nurse, i have to watch for the nasty bacteria... but good old fashioned muck is grand
like: i never clean mushrooms... i love a bit of grit on 'em...
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Hurray! Kate in general would side with us on the cleanliness issue, but apparently draws the line on manure. Personally, I think washed mushrooms get mushy.
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very profound...
and a good poem
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interesting. not like most poems I've read, but I think that is what is appealing to it. is the line, "i learned today some 200 bacterial strains infect an inch of arm," real? if so, that's sort of scary. ha. gets one to think. good job with this one. I like it.
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Hey Sarahbeth, a group of American scientists did skin samples from a select survey of individuals... they found an amazing array of bacterias, with the average number being about 200 (I've forgotten details). What's even freakier to me are the DNA estimates some folks have been finding. It's all a bit tentative and out there yet, but human beings have been getting viral infections which add mutations to our dna for our entire history... just what is it that makes humans human? It reminds me of when jellyfish researchers first started describing jellyfish as colonies of symbiotic cellular animals... what constitutes oneness? where is our identity situated?
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thanks! I appreciate the response. that's actually really interesting, I hadn't known that. thanks for sharing with me :]
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I was once told that I'm neither sugar nor salt, nor anybody's honey; I wouldn't melt. But you are somebody's honey and I think it's melting that makes honey (s)pool so sweetly!
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I am only giving that four stars as you know you are honey and manna for more than a few. Thank you, honey-pie. Your answer is better than some 50 page dissertation on the viscosity of fluids.
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