What say you now of the soul?
That elusive being you chased from
state to state - every state of being
has it yet been found?
1.
This is the female form:
numb from sunken head to blistered foot
ankles swollen, legs purpled, and hips -
hips that are no longer electric or thrusting.
Bellies mapped with childbirth, breasts that
hang-droop-down turned smiles that no longer
offer nourishment.
This is the male form:
swollen, distended, chest like
road maps, testicles lolling, flaccid,
no longer electric, eclectic, or otherwise.
Bellies bigger than egos, minds thick,
coagulated, no longer offering solutions,
only excuses.
We find our pleasures elsewhere.
2.
This is the male in action:
cut off from his desires he strikes out
To the killing fields! Rightfully takes what is
not justly due, leaving carnage behind,
the grass no longer green, the other never
sated, but he is and returns home.
This is the female in action:
A lioness, bathes her cubs and sends them out
to be educated, she hunts for her place in the fields,
and makes her kill at the grocery store,
there is no delight in mating - perhaps her
stunted soul too disfigured by ignorance.
3.
Manhood is a joke. Fought for because there
is nothing else to fight for. No murder to feed the
family, only murder to feed the government. He
is bored - and will die there - looking for freedom.
Womanhood is hollow. The womb rotten from
birth control and abortions. There is no redemption
in motherhood - only an unsated, deep belief
that she should be something more.
There is no beauty left. Whitman took it in “Ode To’s”
that he didn’t comprehend. Took the soul from those
not even born and idealized them in a pathetic attempt
to break the chains of romanticism. What say you now
of the soul? What say you now?
Comments
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A smart profound poem.
Never had much use for the idea of a soul except as a metaphor for something else that has a name but whose name I have forgotten for the moment. Whitman was writing in response to the belief system of his time. I wonder if we will be able to concoct a meaningful life affirming belief system out of atheism, materialism, science, etc. It is one of the reasons I like Bukowski. He seems to be interested partly in what is left after you strip away all the other stuff.
I like the line "Manhood... fought for because there is nothing else to fight for." We would all probably be better off if we had less time on our hands. philosophy takes a back seat when a lion is chasing you
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I say the soul is formless. I say the soul is bottomless. I say the soul is heavy. I say the soul is resilient. I say the soul is the opposite of intellect. I say your poem was a great piece. It got me to thinking about how people view the sexes and their so-called role in society. And about how thinking is an art form. But you can't teach art class. art is classless. I say art is the bastard child of the soul. I say the soul wants more children. Yeah, that's where you took me.
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Thank you. If you haven't read Whitman's "I sing the body Electric" you should check it out. That poem inspired this one- although this is supposed to be a negative response. (I think Whitman was a word-whore and an overrated poet).
Thanks again for your comment. I don't think most people get this one. ;D
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I say bravo! This is brilliant.
an unsated, deep belief
that she should be something more... this is my favorite line, because I understand it so well, but every line speaks to me. Nicely done, Tiff.
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