too late these ivory breasts of Paradise
the ancient crow upon the lanyard
of the leaky clipper ship at harbor
bow downward.
In Bohemia,
the bearded revolutionaries
shove the rotted bodies aside
to make room for the disguise:
Lean and hungry Cassius
wraps the poem in a knife.
The crowd churns
uncontrolled thighs drip with perspiration
the words lisp coyly;
waking in the night to be told of mother’s death
he fumbles though the house shaking the sleepers
and then thinks to coil about the rack
to be cured of his sins.
to no avail
sate with poetry,
stuck in Philistia
he hurries with Gold
to reimburse the pimps.
Author notes
He left what he called his mattress grave and
found his way, blind, through the bullets in the street,
it was 1848, to the Louvre. He did it, he took the risk,
to have another look at Venus. What were you looking at
in a broadcasting studio?”
Charles Olson, from “A Lustrum for You, E. P. [Ezra Pound]
In a list
Please tell me what you think
Comments
1 - 7 of 7
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Best way to read Lute poems -- slowly and again and again. My my this is good. And I can't even put into words why or what I think it is about -- but yet, I know and recognize how good it is because of how the words congeal into images and how the images become a poem that does indeed become like an assassin to ones sense of reality.
This is like a play -- it suspends time or something. I dunno, I can't find words for it -- sorry.
I don't know that Charles Olson poem but I'm interested in it -- once I took an AP Class with Son of the Moon and we examined one Olson poem for hours. It was incomprehensible -- one of his exchanges with Michael McClure. Anyway -- this will definitely not be poplar or imminently publishable -- it may be strong but I don't really know for sure
it leaves me all wobbly and wanting to read it again and again. That's good right?
No nits for me on this one.
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You write often of the military ...
and with a phallic slant ... Searching in memory and in history, the reader is challenged to grasp ... Lute, Cassius and Caligula carried this poem with drama and with trade ...
How can anyone ever be sate with poetry, hmmm? Not if one reads Lute. Who else can rhyme churns with sins and pimps?
You make me cry and sigh through grins.
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it was 1848 like the year or 18:48 like military time?
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this is different and i don't understand it
however it makes me think of prostitutes
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Oh! this was really wonderful! The imagery was so vivid and detailed! I really loved this.. I must say you did better then the prompt itself..Lol.. Great write! I really enjoyed this
Thanks very much for sharing!!
Angel
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Nice take on the prompt. Heavy imagery. I like this poem alot.
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See now I like your version so much better than the quoted piece. But then I do like reading you and perhaps I am biased or full of red wine or both
Nope, I think I just like it better. C
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