wild garlic grows
between our teeth, those fallen stones
from the ruined church of our mouths.
wild garlic roots
are round and thin,
a lie we wear as shoes.
we waver, tall and gaudy,
our white flowers like lace,
seeding every time we prate our nonsense
no more significant than
the markings of wandering dogs.
we are legion, the first to appear in Spring,
a disease of the soil,
dying even as we conquer everything
even the air
with false plenty,
and the thoughtless vanity of pretty parasites.
______
image: The Muse Inspiring The Poet by Henri Rousseau
for dverse OLN
Wow, this feels so powerful and mesmeric in the imagery. Love how the words just roll off, the rhythm is fantastic here. Always enjoy reading you. :)
ReplyDeleteI like your anthropomorphizing garlic, that's very creative.
ReplyDeleteYou have really painted the wild garlic in a sinister light - and I sense an extended metaphor.
ReplyDeleteHow did wild garlic come to invade the human garden and repopulate our everlovin' soil? Maybe it will make us tasty to the Reaper.
ReplyDeleteStunning play on words, I absolutely love the way the scene unfolds and tumbles from one image to the next. Especially the opening lines and "the markings of wandering dogs." :-)
ReplyDeleteSunra Rainz
That opening line is a perfect volley over the horizon, and the rest of the poem follows it, arcing into a space it illuminates like a roman candle. You take a very old analogy and make it fresh as an herb picked by the dark of the moon. The entire first stanza is a work of art, and you know I abominate quoting but these lines refuse to stop resonating"..a disease of the soil,/dying even as we conquer everything/even the air/with false plenty.." Just excellent excellent writing, Shay.
ReplyDeleteA wonderful poem... I love this... those fallen stones
ReplyDeletefrom the ruined church of our mouths.
The story of us old folks! LOL
Beautiful music as well!
Conquering the air with false plenty ... oh my that does a garlic proud!!
ReplyDelete“…seeding every time we prate our nonsense
ReplyDeleteno more significant than
the markings of wandering dogs.”
I certainly hear you Shay, but we all gotta write what we gotta write. Hopefully, sometimes it fertilized what it falls upon… 😏
Hi Rob. I was thinking more along the lines of those who aggrandize themselves by peddling misinformation.
DeleteI thought it was about marital struggles/failures, hearkening back to Adam and Eve (“the first t[w]o.”
Deletethis was fun to read shay, i liked these lines best:
ReplyDelete"we are legion, the first to appear in Spring,
a disease of the soil,
dying even as we conquer everything"
First I have to say is that wild garlic (ramsom) you pick in spring is delicious... that said the image of of the root setting in teeth is sinister... and I love you tied the image of that to the peddlers of lies in a pandemic of falsehood.
ReplyDeleteIndeed, they are highly edible, but will also take over and ruin the soil for other plants. Thanks for hosting OLN, Bjorn! I loved the Rousseau.
Delete