I gather white flowers.

Posted on by Lucy

She holds my heart
two mouths
crawling the Medusa legs
us pale girls

virulence being told
is our blood and bones.

A dead body cannot turn
a heart; but your words
can kill me

If I let them
trace onto my maddening hands
like a bush
like a black cancer
from the yew tree.

Us pale girls
know love in each other.

If the sun is a whore
into the death
let her be; I am smoke and dead,
I am at once who I am
my love is my snow child
only to grow

I am not what you thought
shame for you, not for me.
I am the doom through your blood,
but I’m free.

© 2021 Pseudopsychosis All Rights Reserved.

Written for Pride Month and submitted to Visual Verse. Hope you could enjoy. 🏳️‍🌈 Happy Pride!

6/10/21: Reposted for the dVerse OLN.

6/01/22: Reposted for Pride month.

Published by Lucy

"Poetess of darkness"–dVerse community; cat hoarder, guitarist, keyboardist, psych major.

85 thoughts on “I gather white flowers.”

    1. lost and lonely
      these bones shake
      childhood I knew

      the moon draws a baby
      cherub death
      in my heart

      slips in an older body
      a young girl’s moon

      was it a love killer
      no
      it was my love.

      Like

  5. Your epiphora offering was so wonderful I just fell down the rabbit hole that is your verse. You have such a singular and consistent voice. I just love this work.

    Liked by 2 people

  8. two mouths
    crawling the Medusa legs… and then the following evolution, with natural inspiration, which you can feel the thread, or you just think… Great.

    Liked by 1 person

  12. A beautiful and alluring piece that serves also as a powerful reminder of how important, cherished, sweet, and ash-like freedom is. The opening lines stung me in a good way and the following imagery rose evocatively in my mind!

    Liked by 1 person

  15. Your way with descriptive words is amazing….those crawling legs sent me to shivering…and these words
    “A dead body cannot turn
    a heart; but your words
    can kill me ” are chilling!

    Liked by 1 person

  17. Hey Lucy. I remember seeing this from just after last time I posted something. How do you do this reposting and reposting thing? Do you just update the time and date? It see it happen a lot in the world of poetry blogging.

    “I am not what you thought
    shame for you, not for me.”

    Could have read my mind. And the next two lines are ominous, definitely. I wonder what it’s like to have so much influence, so much popularity. Does it make one more happy?

    “A dead body cannot turn
    a heart;”—

    —can’t it, though?—

    …”but your words
    can kill me”

    Yes, certainly. And that has already happened to many… at least blogophorically.

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Hi!

      As for the reposting, what I do is reset the date and time and switch the post to a draft. You’ll see the option to publish it and then you’ll get that notification in the bell on WP.

      I really appreciate your thoughts and feedback on this piece. I enjoyed reading them greatly, especially as you’ve given me some things to ruminate over that I didn’t even initially think about.

      “I am not what you thought
      shame for you, not for me.”

      “Could have read my mind. And the next two lines are ominous, definitely. I wonder what it’s like to have so much influence, so much popularity. Does it make one more happy?”

      I love your interpretation of the text. I doubt it increases happiness that much, imo. Dreams of fame and fortune come with a cost and the industry time and time again (or even just on a small platform of popularity like YT or different communities online, for instance) has shown how it can be an absolute monster. Either the artists themselves are the monster, or it’s how other artists use a community to attack other artists, and additionally even the community themselves with some egging on [they] are monsters.

      With regards to that stanza, I more or less wrote it for Pride Month and how not everyone will be supportive, sadly, of who you are or if you’re still trying to figure out your identity. In my mind, it was more of flipping the bird to people that don’t support you.

      “A dead body cannot turn
      a heart;”—

      “—can’t it, though?—”

      I think it can, just in different circumstances–the most obvious one being mourning and grief. That line was more of a revelation how people can try to guilt you over who and what you are, that “it’s not right” or “what would so and so think of this?” You can’t change your heart like that.

      Liked by 2 people

      1. Wow Lucy! Thank you, for this thoughtful reply! And I agree… completely. To be honest, with that heart line, I had been thinking of my mom, who passed last winter, specifically. Sometimes it takes a while for grief to set in completely… at first it really didn’t hit me. And then with the other line about killing… I was just thinking about the sudden disappearance of a very lovely blog, recently (s…..’s. I hope he would not mind me saying), which when I first noticed, was devastating. But there were others before… and when they were gone, such a feeling of loss… I guess that’s similar to grieving. But I believe it can be a valid path for many, especially those who are more on the sensitive side when it comes to social media, to being truly happy… so I like to think of them as moving forward creatively, and celebrating. I love your reply, thank you so much for taking the time! and happy Pride Month! 🌈💖🎉xoxo

        Liked by 1 person

      2. I have a hell of such experiences when you do your level best, do everything to please them, and even though all the people quickly discern it, eventually you end up being wrong just because there is someone always ready to lay claim on your work and will wrong you, shame you, will somehow drag you through this and will bring you down and surprisingly the same person, will still try to appear humble. It’s the kind of state when you either try to scream or seek complete silence or solitude. But the fact is they barely possess that sensitivity or guts to acknowledge it as it is always deliberate.
        What I have conveyed here is a bit out of context but the poem really does resonate with me. And I am so grateful to you from the bottom of my heart for sharing this magnificent piece. Thank you.

        Liked by 1 person

      3. I’m so sorry to hear that you’ve been through that. It sounds awful, and the cruelty of people never fails to surprise me. They’ll drag you through the mud with a smile, and when they push you in the dirt, it’s somehow your fault and not their own.

        I can see in what you described how it relates here, and while I’m sorry about your experiences, I’m glad my poem could resonate with you. I hope since then you’ve broken away from those kinds of people. ❤️

        Thank you also for sharing. It takes a lot of courage to do that.

        Liked by 1 person

  22. A dead body cannot turn
    a heart; but your words
    can kill me
    …oh, how powerful and lethal words, even attitudes, can be. Strong piece Lucy, as I have come to appreciate from your work. That image of “pale girls” will resonate in my back-brain for some time now, flashing images of Mary Pickford — don’t ask me, I don’t know? Excellent work.

    Liked by 1 person

  24. You had me at “if the sun is a whore” then the moon must be a slut, dawn is a maiden, and twilight is a trollop. Your darkness is contagious it seems. I see you as a Goth, but only when you are writing.

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Hahaha, I like your logic there Glenn!

      I was just about to say “Nah, I’m not goth in real life…” until I read the rest of that sentence. I agree there, I’ve been inspired by gothic imagery in the past; most likely stirred by my intrigue of Poe which got me into poetry.

      Thank you so much for the thoughts and feedback. ❤

      Like

  25. Great description here, “A dead body cannot turn a heart; but your words can kill me” Words are so powerful. I really feel the hurt in this poem but also the defiance of the pain in that last stanza. Packs a punch! 👊

    Liked by 1 person

  32. I saw the image in Visual Verse, so had this in my mind when I read your poem. This packs a powerful message. ‘ I am not what you thought ….but I am free.’ Great stuff.

    Liked by 2 people

  37. Wow, such dark and exciting imagery..unexpected metaphors and just a fresh breath of enigma!
    I think my favorite verse is
    ” A dead body cannot turn
    a heart; but your words
    can kill me”
    But there are many others… The Yew Tree…The Tree of Death..Boom you casually slipped that in. Amazing work,

    Liked by 1 person

    1. I can’t believe I missed this comment, I’m not sure why I wasn’t notified of it. That happens here and there, unfortunately, with WP.

      Thank you so, SO much Karima. I really appreciate your thoughts and feedback, you’ve made my night. ❤

      Liked by 1 person

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