In August, the clouds are one-winged birds
collected in a shadow box by boastful head-injured dwarf gods.
They skitter, describing ceaseless circles
as the dwarf gods goad them to fly as they long to.
Storms are the tempers of the shadow box birds.
In August, old men dream of young women
and young women find themselves shriveled and standing on hard clay.
Everyone is given a shovel and a stethoscope
to listen for thalidomide demons in love with the shadow box birds.
Cicadas amplify the grinding of maddened demons.
In August, weather pattern doctors urge
tarot card mothers to sleep with bellies full of shadow box birds.
demon doulas with asters in their teeth
sicken gravity with odd fevers and the whole world sways.
Crickets are half birds in the ears of gods, still able to sing, ice pick righteous.
________
for Dverse Poetics "August" hosted by Sanaa Rizvi.
An interesting dark take on August! I remember when this was happening.... Everyone is given a shovel and a stethoscope
ReplyDeleteto listen for thalidomide demons in love with the shadow box birds. Thalidomide caused quite a stir!
This is incredibly dark and powerful, Shay! I can feel the weather pattern describe here and picture the "demon doulas with asters in their teeth,".. the poem speaks volumes about the cruel side of August. Thank you so much for adding your voice to the prompt 💖💖
ReplyDeleteYour poem makes me believe that August and not April, is the cruellest month.
ReplyDeleteYou took my breath away with your first line. Wow. An amazing poem!
ReplyDeleteIt seems that August is the month with the stormiest of temper and drives all of us mad. Thanks for joining in!
ReplyDeleteA feeling of dislocation and surrealism pervade this face of August, where the symbol war disguises the real one. Having a demon for doula seems far from comforting, even if its what's on the cards. Or so I read.
ReplyDeleteDear Joy, I am, trying to comment on your latest post and am unable to, I believe, because of the settings (same problem I had with Shay's blog until she allowed "Anonymous" to comment). For some reason, I am unable to message you to let you know. Hence, I'm letting you know here.
DeleteSorry, Shay, to litter your page with this unrelated comment! I had no other way of letting Joy know. And I so wanted to comment on both of your blogs.
Thank you in advance <3
Sunra
first, i like that image... the ace of flames... (i'm going to use (steal) that). i like the narrative style, and the layers, which you keep hidden from the head-injured dwarfs gods (what they don't know will surely kill them, lets hope) in like the structure too, your uses of the one-liners is very effective, amplifying the turns in your narrative. as always, a pleasure to read shay
ReplyDelete"Storms are the tempers of the shadow box birds"
ReplyDelete"Cicadas amplify the grinding of maddened demons"
These lines create such a powerful pivot into the next verse. Like a pause where the viewer/reader takes in the scene that inspires a fascinated horror, and yet they can't look away. So many good turns of phrase throughout, each one is chockfull with mystery and meaning. And so sensual! There is a feeling of damnation with a chink of redemption. Really beautiful, Shay <3