Steampunk starling is noisy at dawn
at the base of the window, not the tops of the trees.
The steampunk sun and the regular one
animate her heart that is wound with keys.
Steampunk bird, lonely trifle
wheels and sits in interpretive fits
her gears all meshing with teeth all threshing
the odious this from the marvelous that.
Steampunk starling, nobody's darling
but God's if mechanical God may be
she sits in the gloaming prevented from roaming
an ornament for Master's library.
_________
for Dverse Poetics: "Passions Stamped On Lifeless Things"
Love me some steampunk, always have. It so Victorian surreal, so Sci-Fi fantasy landscape. The woman look the coolest in the costumes. Steampunk Starling has earned a place on my treasure shelf, behind several cerebral doors, saved for special viewings.
ReplyDeleteThis kicks ass Shay. Steampunk is so creative, wondrous, conceptually captivating — sci fi with Queen Ann balusters. I love the spirit of this piece, the internal rhyming. This poem moves as I imagine that Steampunk Starling would — mesmerizingly.
ReplyDeleteSheer genius. You blew me away with this one, Shay. Steampunk bird has stolen my heart by way of your perfectly placed, crisply fashioned phrases, "meshing" the words link by link to create her hybrid mechanical, wild personality. An ornament she may be, but she seems to order the air and sound and light around her. What a pleasure to read!
ReplyDeletePax,
Dora
I love the images you use, Shay. My favorite part:
ReplyDelete"threshing
the odious this from the marvelous that."
how cool, Shay! I want one! I've never seen anything like that.
ReplyDelete-David [ben Alexander]
http://skepticskaddish.com/
This is so well-written. I love the flow, and the perfect rhymes. I'm captivated by this steampunk starling!
ReplyDeleteShe sounds fantastic! Is she yours? I love the lyricism of this piece.
ReplyDeleteI thought this was a tragic description of a woman locked up as a possession but not actually a real thing. The other comments are surprising responses.
ReplyDeleteLines 3 and 6 are my favorites.
There's charm here in the lilt and the rhythm of the period cadence, but there is also a paths, not too subtle, in the ".. heart that is wound with keys.." and the turning of life, flight, song, into gears, sunk in a static ownership. A sharp twist of the scalpel on the dual distortion of history and fantasy (and in this case, mechanical destiny) that is steampunk.
ReplyDelete"path" not paths. Gah.
ReplyDeleteHowever do you create such wonderful names? Mechanical, gears meshing .. Steampunk Starling. I love this poem.
ReplyDeleteLove the steampunk starling. Perfect place for them for they are nobody's darling unless they're prevented from roaming!
ReplyDeleteThis whole scene is a treat, Shay! :-) Like a slightly French animation playing out. I love the steampunk starling being all noisy at dawn; love the whole whole thing but especially these lines:
ReplyDelete"her gears all meshing with teeth all threshing
the odious this from the marvelous that." :-)
Steampunk Starling has captured my heart....and so does your poem!
ReplyDeleteLove your steampunk starling!
ReplyDeleteLove your steampunk starling!
ReplyDelete(Teresa)
I love the story of that steampunk starling (a real darling)... it got me thinking of the H.C. Andersen story about the Nightingale
ReplyDeletehttps://andersen.sdu.dk/vaerk/hersholt/TheNightingale_e.html
where the mechanical bird replaced the real one for a while until it broke.
What a creative use of the language to describe an object.
ReplyDeletethis made me think of a clockwork orange, and grackles, and how damn fine a writer you are ~
ReplyDeleteAgree with grapeling. I also thought of a clockwork orange.
ReplyDeleteLove Steampunk Starling, and the lovely flow of the poem.