Before
Time was once apple
skinned and quartered
still hanging from the tree,
as if a disembowelled astronaut
hanging from moon gallows
At the hill’s summit
we knelt among the dead,
ate the rancid gifts from their bodies
flesh of berries, mouths and holes
of skin, until the sky
darkened the pearls at their jaws
and oysters opened in certainty of silence
During
Trust was mere dew on earth’s crust
waiting first burst of sunshine to burn away,
she came before Christ and murdered love
and had I known
crucifixion was her favoured foreplay?
In the way
ambulance can become hearse
vows are left to bleed on the altar
Bride and groom both to blame
for frankly, never truly loved her
After
I sat and watched the apple rot
amongst webs and carpet threads
in corner of my bedroom,
placing letters in envelopes
never to be posted
I always like it when someone starts with an object, “Apple,” and ends with the same object. This is good. I enjoyed it.
Yeesh! I’m hoping Del skips this one! (we’re planning a ’27 wedding). lol.
Your poetic strength is maybe lost on some readers, because you go deep like this. There’s geometry in this creation, angles and dark corners. I can take the weight, though, when reading your powerful lines. Because there is reward in finding the meanings and how we perceive it all. Outstanding depth here.
As always Mark, I’m so pleased someone gets me.