I choked on the bones of a blackbird
you'd baked into a pie.
You pried my locked jaws open,
held me in your vise-like thighs,
and slinked your fingers down my throat
till they willowed; now they won't
unring the bell.
Star scorned ribs
Sugar skin.
Hammer heart
with the nail half in
the hickory tree dressed in a noose
swinging -
I turned that blackbird loose.
For Open Link Monday at Real Toads
Monday, November 17, 2014
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About Me
- Maude Lynn
- Anybody who has survived his childhood has enough information about life to last him the rest of his days. ---Flannery O'Connor
13 comments:
Oh, yes!! Turn him loose!! Fun start for my day!! Hope you have a great week, MZ -- pen/keyboard in hand, of course!!!
The nursery rhyme rhythm here serves to underscore the adult content of this piece. Very impacting.
Very powerful work here. I've always thought that many of the "children's" stories and nursery rhymes are actually quite adult in nature.
http://poetryofthenetherworld.blogspot.com/2014/11/hungry-for-more.html
Oy, powerful, indeed, and a deadly scenario. Relief at the closing line! Been there, got the t-shirt!
Wow, a new favorite for me.
Boom! Powerful hitting of the nail on the head. And I love poetry infused with nursery rhymes.
Powerul! My jaws ache thinking of the willowing, hammered heart and noose. I'll never ever bake blackbirds.
I always think of the Agatha Christie mystery "A Pocketful of Rye" when I hear that nursery rhyme now. Clever use of this in your poem!
Fuck ME, there is so much poetry here! I especially love the first two lines of the second stanza. Also the stand alone end line.
Pssst...."your" in the 4th line?
A surprising and compelling piece--a very strong voice here, MZ--I wasn't sure of "you" either--but didn't affect enjoyment, thanks k.
love that 2nd stanza ~
Usually it's the devil who gets his comeuppance, but sometimes it's possible to trump the Lord. On paper, at least. Fine, feral strut.
This is provocative and kind of eerie, yet it reads like a light-hearted poem. Nicely done.
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