Are we going plumming?
oh plum,
move over
use words
like bothy, coulee,
but and ben
rise
when the old-timer
scudds down
sea-cliff
root-tentacles
warily whipping
bear-like
peat
act maddened,
wrapping
soggy newsprint
claws,
dousing sodden
black earth
with gin
(where did you
read that?)
split fizzing orbs
with heady
breath
of blush-rot
uncover
creases
of brilliant red
eczema-raw
skin-rippling-bank
oh tick-infested
rump
pluck one
crimson, crack
ice between teeth
pare it
into half-smirks
for there’s that bean curd
experiment, no?
what you say
around food
seeps in,
rattles it,
causes it
to turnturn turn:
wild, wielding, whispering, plumming
ice between teeth
pare it
into half-smirks
for there’s that bean curd
experiment, no?
what you say
around food
seeps in,
rattles it,
causes it
to turn
wild, wielding, whispering, plumming
A version of this poem was originally published in the Templar anthology for 2012. It is still a work-in-progress and seems a little fragmentary. I kind of like this about it.
Visit the hub for more poetry on Tuesday.
Visit the hub for more poetry on Tuesday.
I think I am learning one thing about your poetry Elizabeth and that is to expect the unexpected. Plumming plumbing the depth of oceans looking for lodes in a mine...could be about both of these but I have decided it's about bear hunting. I enjoyed the way you laughed with words in the poem. Good to see you back!
ReplyDeleteI just love your interpretation, Helen - it's fabulous! I'm afraid the poem has a far more sedate beginning - just a plum tree uprooting and sliding down a bank (cliff) by the sea, rushing to save it and its plums. I like the bear hunting interpretation a lot better!! It sure is great to be back to TP - thanks so much for popping by and having a little read :)
DeleteThanks for explaining ....I'll settle for a plum hunting bear. :-) It's because you have that wonderful ability to write about ordinary things in a 'way less ordinary' but I have been thinking on these things lately and it's a matter of observation...of the kind which allows one to see all things in all things. for example
ReplyDeleteeczema-raw
skin-rippling-bank
oh tick-infested
rump
Hmm :-)