A red boudoir
in the earth’s ax to bruit upon her branches
leaving in skull-white redress, neck
covered in frost; shyness is halved
in father’s seed from his to his daughter;
in the cherry tree slaught with black doves
arched in mad gaze, the fire flower from
firethorns strayed like ossification in
a pomegranate womb, and shook with death,
sobered in sea-
sick with the heir of our ghosts
for the sleeping black rose, thorns
as whispering monarchies wearing their human suits
kenning blood into their blood, fathers of daughters,
mothers of seas then buried,
leapt to death in ocean oasis,
why tear the head off of the bird?
too brutal for me when we
can watch instead like the madmen we are.
© 2020 lucysworks.com All Rights Reserved.
Written for the dVerse prompt:
Tonight, I want to give you the title for your poem, and let you do the rest.
I want you to choose from one of these titles:
- Travelling in the wilderness
- She said if a red fox had crossed somewhere, that area was safe
- They say only the south wind flattens grass
- We are teachers to our grandchildren
- Lead dogs are very smart
- Squirrel hunting in the mountains
- A story of when the ice detached and the people floated away.
This is a very horrific poem to me in what I describe. The meaning, to me, as I base off of emotion is in the final two lines.
For something not as depressing, feel free to look at this picture of my Haji:

43 responses to “and the people floated away.”
I agree… those last two lines really jumped out at me as well… I read in this how we are all complicit in a way.
“when we
can watch instead like the madmen we are.”
To me this is a horrific thought (and maybe true)
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Thank you. That really is the essence of the poem.
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Some great images here, Lucy. I particularly liked that pomegranate womb. The ending is suddenly sobering and direct, it’s a great contrast with the verbal complexity of the rest of the poem.
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Thank you so much, Sarah.
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Disturbing in graphic imagery, then your conclusion, is it any wonder we’re all stark-raving mad under such cruelty?
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Thank you.
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You’re welcome.
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“in the cherry tree slaught with black doves arched in mad gaze, the fire flower from firethorns strayed like ossification in a pomegranate womb,”…. this poem is incredibly rich in imagery! 😀 Wow! 💝💝
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Thank you so much!
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A compelling and mind-stirring piece! I love the pic of your Haji.
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Thank you! 😀
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Most welcome!
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Sometimes I think we are all carried away on a broken off ice flow and the worlds craziness keeps showing itself. Spectator’s one and all yet still complicit! Well done Lucy!
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Thank you!
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Some really visceral, disturbing images here Lucy. Nice to see your beautiful cat at the end as a counterbalance like you said 😊
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Thank you, Ingrid! ❤️❤️
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Dark and unsettling and the last two lines are sadly really true. I loved it! ❤️ :))
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Thank you!
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There’s so much interest here! For example:
‘as whispering monarchies wearing their human suits,
kenning blood into their blood, fathers of daughters,
mothers of seas then buried,’
Wow! I think you understand the undertow of our age…
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Thank you so very much. I am quite cynical of the world and I think it shows. 😀
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The part of the title you chose works so well, Lucy, as a title for your poem, which is indeed horrific. I love the clever word- and winter-colour-play in the opening lines, with the ‘red boudoir’, the ‘skull-white redress’ and ‘neck covered in frost’, and the way it turns darker in the ‘cherry tree slaught with black doves’. I also like the ‘pomegranate womb’.
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Thank you so much, Kim. ❤️❤️
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a poem full of gothic imagery
“in the cherry tree slaught with black doves
arched in mad gaze”
(interesting word ‘slaught’)
and that punchy ending pulls us in from reader to voyeur
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Thank you dearly, Laura!
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The title reminds me of the book and film “It”. Well woven, Lucy.
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Thank you!
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The image that strikes me most here is being seasick with the heirs of ghosts. Read aloud it contains even more worlds. (K)
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Wow, thank you so much!
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I love your cat! 🙂
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Thanks!
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Your welcome! 🙂 Is it a boy or girl? 🙂
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A boy. An old boy but a good boy nonetheless. 😁
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I have always loved black cats because they are so unique. 🙂
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They really are. For some reason, they just warm my heart entirely. They are treasures.
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I 100% agree because whenever I see one I smile. 🙂
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This struck me as a piece about trauma Lucy. The way we are all traumatized by the brutality and indifference that surrounds us. Once again I enjoyed taking this verbal ride with you.
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Thank you, Rob. I agree with you very much on your analysis. It’s spot-on.
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Wow! So powerful, especially those two closing lines. Like the madmen we are. Yes.
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Thank you so much!
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So powerful and the end is a stark reckoning.
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Thank you.
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It’s interesting, Lucy: We watch and observe, vicariously, and then disavow our direct participation, but it cuts into us just as deeply as if our hand held the moment.
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Very true. Thank you so much!
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