Honey Is Sweeter Than Blood
O I know you loved me
like the tiger loves the goat
and that was why we went to sea
in a cask that didn't float.
That was why you talked to me
with jungle in your throat
and crooned so comprehensively
each note the wild things wrote--
but when we broke up in the foam
it was plain I was a bear,
and you--just a heavy honeycomb
I'd pulled from a tree of air.
~May 2016
(Homage to Dali for title)
(Homage to Dali for title)
Optional Musical Accompaniment
Study for Honey is Sweeter Than Blood, 1926, by Salvador Dali
Tiger in Love, 1979, by Corneille(Cornelis Guillaume van Beverloo)
Fair use via wikiart.org
Oh, my delightful Hedgewitch! I can't stop grinning at this piece. Its musicality, its raw truth, its sharp teeth still sticky with blood and sweet... the voice of a sure speaker, who goes into the sea ready to hunt the self-believed hunter. Yum!
ReplyDeleteHey Joy--this has a wonderful pea green boat feel to it, as well as Maurice Sendak over tones, and even the Life of Pi. All that said, it is very creative and original - but simply with these terrific resonances. I especially love the breaking up with the foam--suggestive but also naturalistic, and that kind of devouring that can happen on both sides of a relationship is just terrifically displayed.
ReplyDeleteI think I'll be a bit late with mine as traveling this weekend, and very undisciplined! Thanks so much for participating with this very cool poem. Great pic too. k.
Oh yes that casket at sea brought forth memories of that life of Pi for sure... but also a wild story in itself.. with the turn of table and predator turning prey in the end... I have a feeling this happens for real many a time.
ReplyDeleteWhat a delightful turn around! Loved the lyrical quality while reading it! Delightful!
ReplyDeleteThanks all--disclaimer--I have never seen or read the Life of Pi and so whatever the reference is, it was completely unintentional.
ReplyDeleteI've not seen the movie but the book is very good. But honestly it relies on archetypes that you too use so well-- i think you'd like the book--
DeleteTalk about the hunter getting captured by the game. here are so many great phrases in this--the jungle throat, the tree of air--that when it is all couched in this easy rhyme, it's darkly loverly.
ReplyDeleteOh, I love this.....absolutely adore every word, every perfectly placed image, every drop of intense emotion throughout....utterly stunning :-)
ReplyDeleteLike a fractured fairy tale with a distinct musical voice. O so lyrical.
ReplyDeleteOh, how can it be so dark and so light at the same time? I love it.
ReplyDeleteThis is so brilliant, hedge. Each lines sings. I did not want it to end but I have such a big smile on my face right now. So enjoyed it.
ReplyDeleteAs Fireblossom said there are so many amazing phrases in this - outstanding work
ReplyDeleteOh my goodness, this is absolutely fantastic!!!!!! I love it!
ReplyDelete"Your lion eyes," indeed -- in the jazzman catelogue (or bestiary), this fits somewhere between Ruby Lips and Scintillant Fang -- potable, edible and incredible, precise as the silver inlaid beltbuckle left behind on the cold floor with its smilin' death's head. The precision of the menace is trebled by the collusion of such flawless meter. Amen and jah mon--esp. the final two lines. Wow.
ReplyDeleteOh, I love this!!
ReplyDeleteI so enjoyed this ... the musician in me wants to sing it!!
ReplyDeleteOh my...this feels so wonderful...it has that archetypal deep dream meaning feeling to it and the work of adding the animals is so effective.
ReplyDeleteI love this portion:
"...with jungle in your throat
and crooned so comprehensively
each note the wild things wrote-"
Really enjoyed your poem, Hedge and your image choices, too. :)
No doubt, strong emotions can consume each person involved. I take a sense from the last verse that even when there is scant tangible reward present in our aftermaths, there still might be a sense of relish and sweetness in our illusions/memories/desires.
ReplyDeleteI love the lyrical quality to this poem...it resonated with me in many ways. Love begins, it flourishes, fades, and then ends. And then the cycle starts anew. Such is life... :)
ReplyDeletedamn. that's all I got. ~
ReplyDelete