the sleepy keane eyes
of a purple donkey tattoo wink
when she flexes her bicep, she turns
the pages of a book
I can’t pin the tail on: Saddling
Agrippa’s Haunches, the genre
all muddled—soft historical harlequin
cookbook where luscious hair awash in dusk
is always the main ingredient—gritty true crime
exposition on Renaissance husbandry
a treatise for dummies
on the asinity of snorkelers milking
mucus from sea snails for Tyrian dyes
that don’t bleed—step-by-step
make-up tutorial for royals, their best
practices for blending the purple
pond of bruises and welts of feudal
serfs who don’t talk good—a bestiary
of blessed creatures rocking amethyst
nipples who ferry lost heroes to
hypothetical sidewalk cafes
where Circe stirs a lavender brew
she lets the heroes thirst
for unreadable books, allows them
to make asses of themselves
_________________________
Delightful Donkey, by Gina Morley
Weekly Scribblings #45: Artistic Interpretation
A feast of allusions. I am left with an intense urge to reread A Confederacy of Dunces, and Madeline Miller's Circe (a favorite Illiad retelling).
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed the imagery, the tone, and the winking tattoo.
Lovely. Like Magaly it makes me want to drag out the old stories! I too enjoyed Miller's Circe. I especially like letting the heroes make "asses of themselves."
ReplyDeleteMy country is being treated to a great display of the last couple of lines! Great write!
ReplyDeleteVery clever and entertaining.
ReplyDeleteThe step-by-step make-up tutorial for royals ~~~ my favorite line in a poem of great lines!
ReplyDeleteI love all the wordplay and allusion in this poem, Gina! ‘I can’t pin the tail on’ brought back some memories and I didn’t know whether to smile or grimace at the thought of ‘snorkelers milking mucus from sea snails’.
ReplyDeleteWonderful stuff!
ReplyDeleteAnd thanks for the new word (to me): Asinity - I had to look it up.
Anna :o]
This is fascinating!
ReplyDeleteMany people seem quite keen to make asses of themselves for whatever trend is the newest thing. A thought-provoking poem.
ReplyDelete"blessed creatures rocking amethyst nipples who ferry lost heroes to
ReplyDeletehypothetical sidewalk cafes where Circe stirs a lavender brew" Sooo many things to love about this poem! Awesome writing!
An intriguing poem!
ReplyDeleteI've had dreams like that...
ReplyDelete