Baby’s breath into the elm tree, a strange lady in rose heels, she is the crypt for there are no dreams; arresting, like death, to the apple–the serpent’s rictus;
with the body of the shore in vogue black moth wings / the moon tires to itself in half-living, half-death, the atrophy in dissolution undressed. Yes, undress me and see me;
twisted fingers darken the sanguine moon
blue in mindlessness,
shriveled and dying.
The arums fall, what do we do? In antediluvian blood, absence waits, arrayed—the frost whitens the bear’s cave. Her fallen hands catch the moon, smiting osprey eggs and digging up the rigors of star-death.
© 2020 lucysworks.com All Rights Reserved.
Written for the dVerse prompt: Write a haibun that alludes to Halloween.
I listened to Still Ill by The Smiths while writing. It wouldn’t be a proper response to the prompt without sharing some of my muses.
44 responses to “Sanguine.”
Gruesome images in your Halloween Haibun, Lucy!
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Thank you, Lisa!
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You’re welcome.
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All sorts of images, moon and twisted fingers, but I absolutely love that last sentence! Such magic!
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Thank you so much. ❤
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You’re very welcome!
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I love the darkness of your writing. This one made me think of the film “The corpse Bride” … have you seen it?
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Thank you. 🙂 I am familiar with “The Corpse Bride” but have not seen it. The trailer makes me want to watch it, however. Thank you!
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Interesting to read other people’s reactions to the feast. This seems full of angry and bitter dead things.
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The majority of my poems could be described like that. This one is more so, I think. Thank you. 🙂
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I love the ambiguity of the word ‘sanguine’ – is it optimism or the colour of blood that runs through your haibun, Lucy? I fear it is blood, considering the ‘strange lady in rose heels’ and the repeated mention of death. But your sanguine moon is blue.
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Your fear is correct. Sanguine is just more in line with the Halloween theme, while blue is not as much, but I included both colors in the mix. Thank you so much!
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The image of the moon is incredibly striking. (Bjorn’s comment means I’m now off to listen to Emily’s song from the Corpse Bride… maybe even watch it. If you’ve not seen it, I really recommend.
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Thank you, and yes, I definitely plan on checking it out.
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Dark, and aptly sinister.
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Thank you! 😁
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Great verse…
Great song 👍🖤
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Thank you so much. ❤
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You’re most welcome 👍🖤
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And a shiver runs down my spine! Wonderfully done!
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Thank you, Frank!
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Actually, this year it’s a blue moon, but sanguinous sounds more in keeping with spookery!
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Thank you, Beverly. And yes, I know, but it’s always hard for me to align the imagery of a blue moon with the Halloween spirit. I did happen to mix both colors in this poem. 🙂
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blood red in the darkness trully spooky love it.
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Thank you.
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twisted fingers darken the sanguine moon
blue in mindlessness,
shriveled and dying.
This gave me shivers up and down my spine, especially ‘blue in mindlessness’
Creepily, skin-crawling excellence!
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Thank you so much, Freya!
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The strange lady in rose heals offering the apple of death.. Very scary!!
Dwight
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Thank you!
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kaykuala
Spooky and eerie as all Halloween had been. Great wordcraft Lucy!
Hank
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Thank you so much, Hank.
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A perfect dark poetic celebrating All Hallows and Samhain. Your prose is poetry for sure. I liked “the body of the shore in vogue black moth wings”. and “in antediluvian blood, absence waits, arrayed–the frost whitens the bear’s cave.”
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Thank you, Glenn. 🙂
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[…] Baby’s breath into the elm tree, a strange lady in rose heels, she is the crypt for there are no dreams; arresting, like death, to the apple–the serpent’s rictus; with the body of the shore in vogue black moth wings / the moon tires to itself in half-living, half-death, the atrophy in dissolution undressed. Yes,… Read More Sanguine. […]
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This is captivating Lucy. Also a little frightening, but perfect for the season. Well written. Happy Halloween!
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Rob, thank you. Happy Halloween to you as well.
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Wow! Spookiness at its best, Lucy!
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Thank you, Eugi.
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Special one!
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Thanks!
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Halloween suits you, Lucy! I like those vogue black moth wings – very striking image.
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Thank you, Sarah!
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I am not sure who this lady is, but I am sure I don’t want to meet her. She reminds me of ‘the nightmare Life-in-Death’ in the Rime of the Ancient Mariner…scary!
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I wouldn’t want to meet her either, or better yet, I wouldn’t want to know of her at all.
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