A doctor was sent for the season
called counterfeit by
summer's heart.
No use in the cure, or the reason
that shadows and rings
keep apart
from the cure that coils in the foyer
of the house that love recommends
to the moon and its lilies who crave for
the stitches that wound
as they mend.
The doctor prescribes herself autumn
and waits for ice to inscribe
a vow to be broken at midnight
by the needle
disguised as a bride
and when the old brag fades to nothing
and the peacocks their colors remove
the idiot winter with moon lilies wins her
with remedies
borrowed
and blue.
_________
Very lyric, lilting, and somehow, Irish-feeling to me. The run-on phrases seem to tumble like acrobats, each in a different color, dazzling the mind's eye. I especially love "..the house that love recommends
ReplyDeleteto the moon.." "the stitches that wound/as they mend.." and "the needle disguised as a bride.." Beautiful writing, Shay.
How you create such a complete world and feeling in your poetry is completely mesmerizing my friend! So many wonderful images painted in the lines! Simply brilliant, and Sylvia would be impressed!
ReplyDeleteI love it when you rhyme! The imagery is gorgeous and I'm particularly fond of "idiot winter."
ReplyDeleteAnother side, I see to you, in this short, but real and fulfilling, time I’ve been following your work.
ReplyDeleteThe rhyme gets better as it goes, almost Limerick-esq in those last lines of the final stanza, but dark, dark and darker, than a naughty little Limerick.
This is a full on story, with its own arc. Impressed, and engaged, by you.
Same!
DeleteGorgeous.
ReplyDeleteMy favorites:
“the house that love recommends”
“the stitches that wound
as they mend”
“The doctor prescribes herself autumn”
that whole second stanza, in these chunks:
“and waits for ice to inscribe
a vow to be broken at midnight
by the needle
disguised as a bride”
“the idiot winter with moon lilies wins her
with remedies
borrowed
and blue” ... I just saw something like this on Gunsmoke yesterday. :)
Seriously, you have the most beautiful and interesting mind.
Shay,
ReplyDeleteI'm not exactly sure how rhapsodic I waxed over this last time I tried to post but I feel I must do it once more. The gothic atmosphere is perfect for this melody of Plath-words. I see it as a gothic ballad, actually, twisting and flipping plots over our heads, then leaping to blindside with mystery and guile. What is the sickness? What is its nature? And the bride imagery: what gothic would be complete without her, only it's death in something "borrowed and blue" I suspect. Cool. There is something of Poe here too of course, which to me is the icing on the cake. Enjoyed this enormously. Thanks for alerting me to visit again.
Pax,
Dora
"the moon and its lilies who crave for the stitches that wound as they mend." Wow! What an incredible line! The sounds and textures of this poem led me to read it out loud. Brilliant, beautiful writing.
ReplyDelete"The doctor prescribes herself autumn
ReplyDeleteand waits for ice to inscribe
a vow to be broken at midnight
by the needle
disguised as a bride" - that is amazing.