Saturday 28 November 2015

Poem: 'The Loudest Dream'



THE LOUDEST DREAM/ 
BROOD OF THE DARKEST MOON 


she paints me this, 
         lunar nights 
             dark as a drum 

lost in woods 
transfigured to 
rivers of light 

a raven alights, 
becoming a python 
which, slithering 
around the oak 
twists into a frog 

crushing the frog 
it ignites, becoming 
a myrmidon with 
a sphinx voice

she lures me
into the lake, 
her limbs become 
its shore, the 
reflected moon 
shivering away in 
shoals of salmon 

I wear her jaws 
around my wrist, 
so cool and moist, 
her toes as jewelry 
at my throat, 
her ribs are 
my fingers 

she turns 
three times, 
fragmenting 
into a shock of 
crimson salamanders 
cupping reflections 
of the moon 
in their teeth 

then she paints me 
            lunar nights 
                dark as a drum



Original Art by Karen Smithey

Published in:
‘ICE RIVER no.6’ (USA –March 1990)
‘RAMRAID EXTRAORDINNAIRE no.3’ (UK – November 1994)
and in collection:
‘THE MAN WHO DRANK THE MOON’
 edited by Pete Presford (UK – March 1994)

2 comments:

Pris said...

Stunning poem! Yes, I'm exploring your blog!

Belinda Subraman said...

Truly, this is great.