Cervix.
Vulva.
They sound like they would be floating in space,
reclining in rings,
or swept by storms.
Named after Goddesses,
or the women of myth,
they are beyond the arc
of any ordinary thing except curiosity.
Now, comes the Traveler,
lately of places not certainly known--
blue-eyed,
delivered to the breast,
astonished.
_________
for Margaret Bednar's artistic interpretations challenge at Real Toads, and for G Man's Friday 55!
acrylic art at top by Chelsea Bednar.
poor baby... :)
ReplyDeleteThis is incredible!
ReplyDeleteYou know me. I first read the last line as 'delivered to the beast...'I like it much better your way--subtle, musical, but almost regal, really. I love the equation with the planets named for goddesses, and the whole cosmic layout of the piece. Spectacular is the only word for it, Shay.
ReplyDelete*quietly crumples latest effort and throws on fire*
Great! I love the opening (I recently wrote about loving thy vulva!) and the ending, complete with a sigh. Verily nice indeed. And I just love "beyond the arc of any ordinary thing".
ReplyDeleteThere was a Goddess named Vulva?
ReplyDeleteI've paid homage to these three before.
And how about the Queen Mother.... Deloris?
FB....Home Run on the prompt hitting
I'm Damn lucky to know you
Loved your Rorshach 55
Thanks for playing, you're fabulous Shay
Have a Kick Ass Week End
This part is amazing:
ReplyDelete"Now, comes the Traveler,
lately of places not certainly known--
blue-eyed,
delivered to the breast,
astonished."
I love the way the words "not certainly known" tie in with "curiosity" above. You talk about these celestial entities as if they are distant, and then you bring them right up close for a particular Traveler. Either you are the Traveler visiting these astonishing places, or the Traveler is someone visiting your astonishing places. Another possibility is that you are merely a narrator watching/describing a couple (or multiple couples, or one person with multiple partners).
Regardless, I picture the ending almost as a fainting on the lover's chest --- exhausted after Orbiting, so to speak.
There is also a birth taking place, from the womb to the breast. But it's a metaphor. For the closeness, the bonding, the unexplainable cosmic connection.
classic mythos in blue jeans!
ReplyDeleteALOHA from Honolulu
Comfort Spiral
~ > < } } ( ° > <3
Woman mysterious - new life - I found this to be not sexual, but reverent. I read the Traveler to be a baby... but perhaps I'm to literal.
ReplyDeleteLove the whole thing... You dug way deeper than me and created something just gorgeous and thought provoking!
This is wonderfully done--very rich!
ReplyDeleteLove the fantasy, the science fiction element of your poem .. it was avatar like for me. So interesting to see where Chelsea's art 'took' everyone ... love the insights into each poet's psyche. Have a stellar weekend, Shay.
ReplyDeleteThe same lines Rune quotes spoke to me.....so lovely.
ReplyDeleteShay, starting with references to mythology, then making the Traveler (keeping us guessing), and finally the baby at the breast, fully human. What a lovely sojourn. Interesting where this prompt took us, as I saw your comment.
ReplyDeleteIt's all about us. And you didn't have to use VAGINA! hee hee
Amy
Poetry!
ReplyDeleteThe mystery of birth in all its mysterious places.
ReplyDeleteWonderful, Shay.
K
This puts me in a place I have not ever been... well, except once ;) This is extraordinary: so full for so few words!
ReplyDeleteyou've been on a roll with your music selections lately, SP! {not that they're ever bad.}
ReplyDeletethat first verse is so true!
and your last line/word is killer!
♥