Homage to Apollinaire by Mark Chagall (1911-1912)
Today’s prompt “is pretty simple – a love poem! If you’re having trouble getting into the right mood for a love poem, maybe you’ll find inspiration in one of my favorites, June Jordan’s “Poem for Haruko.”’ (Full NaPoWriMo post available here.)
I have two responses to this prompt, one serious, one less so. The first piece addresses the myth of the androgyne. The second, a well-known character from a nursery rhyme. These are both persona poems.
The Lonely Half of the Androgyne
Put your hand over my eyes
like this.
I can almost feel it. I can almost
tell it’s a hand.
All the hands I see
resemble yours.
Somewhere you dream
of my palm
swooping lightly over your
eyelids, a barely there
brush. Infinite
tenderness.
It doesn’t matter
how real.
Having thought of it
is enough.
Every day I wake in this
half-body,
I think of it as separate
from yours. I end
before you begin. Where
do you begin?
Itsy Bitsy Spider in Love
She comes on stilts, as always.
I swear, she’s the tallest woman I know.
How can I not fall for her,
who constantly falls for me
from way up there?
The water spout? It’s a device.
Like a hook that pulls you
right in. I am never
washed out. I am washed
clean. She does it from the inside
out and from the outside in.
I love both of them and the contrast in tone. The first one has some very strong imagery and the ending is lovely.
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Thank you, Natasa! I’m glad the poems spoke to you.🙏💜🍃
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Ah! The spider poem is both funny and profound. We’re helpless when our love objects use spouts, stilts, and other clever devices that hook our hearts! The beautiful near-rhyming of “clean” and “in” makes the poem’s ending so satisfying to the ear.
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Thank you, Alana–we truly are (helpless)! I wanted the spider to have a very serious reason to go up that spout. And what is more serious than love? I’m so glad you found this little poem compelling.🙏💜🍃
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These are both stellar! The language in the first = “a chef’s kiss”.
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Thank you so much!🙏💜🍃
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With this phrase, you have masterfully crafted a summary of the madness being in love “Every day I wake in this half-body, I think of it as separate from yours. I end before you begin. Where do you begin?”
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Thank you so much, Gloria–really appreciated!🙏💜🍃
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Especially love the spider one! 🙂
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Thank you, Donna!🥰🕷🌧
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I love both of these, Romana 💕🙂
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Thank you, Harmony!🙏💜🍃
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I end before you begin…. Mmmm
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Thank you, Barbara!💜🍃
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Oh my … “All the hands I see
resemble yours.” Goes straight to the gut. Really enjoying your poems, Romana!
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Thank you so much, Liz!💜🍃
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This broke me into two:
“I end
before you begin. Where
do you begin?”
Tender, yet felt the blow. Super!
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Thank you so much, Arti–much appreciated!🙏💜🍃
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