"I Need You More than Ever..."

[psalm_onethirtyone]

Bad poetry! :D :D :D

Genesis

(My mother had eyes
as blue as a prayer
As blue as a surprise when you look sideways
and suddenly see that it's standing there
watching you
waiting for you to jump)

And there was this boy named Adam
boy named Adam
who wanted pokeberries because they were purple
and so wonderful round
growing up on their big green stalks
and then turning purple
(when the pokeberries die, the bittersweet berries come
red and gold and autumn
wanting you to pick)
And there was this boy named Adam
whose mother said

no

because pokeberries--they're poison
You know?
they're poison, like calicarpa
Calicarpa is purple, too, tiny little purple bead berries
they're good in the hand, like
Jewel Weed Pods
so his mother said No, but Adam wanted pokeberries
and his mother said--
said--

look.
you can eat all the fruit we have,
you can eat the apples and the pears
and the out-of-season peaches,
and the strawberries and raspberries and sweet-sour blackberries
all by yourself you can pick gooseberries and blueberries
all by yourself you can climb the ladder for the plums and cherries
you can eat any fruit you want
any fruit in our house
anything in our garden EXCEPT--
not the pokeberries.
If you eat the pokeberries, you'll die.

(my father had eyes
as brown as amen
as brown as when you realise
that there's a grown-up inside who's calling you in and
you've got to leave the everything
everything outside that wants you to play)

So Adam had this best friend, little best friend
who never wanted pokeberries
just garden peas. the garden peas
are always good, even when you eat them raw
You know?
But there was this kid across the street
and this kid across the street said

hey. hey.
i bet you a quarter and my candy bar you won't eat those
a quarter and my candy bar and I'll let you ride my scooter

and Adam's best friend she just said,
but I can't, they're poisonous, Mom said so
and that was smart of her, but this kid, he says

she's lying.

and i'll give you my quarter and my Milky Way and--

so Adam's best friend, she picks a handful and eats them, just to show him
'cause she's real brave and she can show him
(and she wants to ride that scooter so bad)
and Adam's watching, he says

Hey! if you get to, what about me?

And she says, she says, sure. come on. they're
not poison, and we'll get to ride his scooter
and i'll split the Milky Way with you
so Adam eats the pokeberries

(my mother had eyes
as blue as a prayer
my father denies
that he really cared
my father had eyes
as brown as amen
my mother's surprised
that they didn't die then)

And after they get sick, they get their stomachs pumped, after that
it's different, you know?
they know that they can almost die
they know that they can die.
But I'll tell you what, I know what
it's just because
you have to take that knowing with you
teach it, grow it
you have to have children who will have that knowing
and I guess you shouldn't listen
to the kid next door

That's what it says
isn't it?
in the Bible.

(my mother had eyes
like you wouldn't believe
blue as a prayer
mother was Eve
my father had eyes
and he wasn't sad then
brown as amen
father was Adam)

Comments

[gileonnen.livejournal.com]

I always love your poetry--and here, I especially like the dissonance at the end, where you expect an end-rhyme but it never comes; wonderfully jarring, makes you think that not only have things not really ended, but they're going to be entirely different from how they were before. A great retelling, lovely technique!

[rainbowjehan.livejournal.com]

--Oh, dear. Thank you so much. It was just--in my head.

[erinpuff]

Aww, you shouldn't call it bad poetry! I really like it. :)

[rainbowjehan.livejournal.com]

Sillyyyy. ^^;;;;; Thank you.

[lunaedraconis.livejournal.com]

this is unbelievable. brown father adam! well, that bit stuck with me but the whole poem really did--i just loved that stanza and i loved the repetition and i loved EVERYTHING. good grief, my girl, they should arrest you for blasphemy for saying it was bad!

[rainbowjehan.livejournal.com]

Really? *hides* You liked it that much? Oh, dear, it was just a silly idea in my head, you know--! ^^;;; Thank you.

[catholic-heart.livejournal.com]

That was absolutely fantastic, thank you so much for sharing your wonderful gift with us :)

[rainbowjehan.livejournal.com]

askgjsdilaslkgjsldaghsfd ^^;;;;;;;;;;; ♥

[eremon-lass.livejournal.com]

Lovely. Just utterly lovely.

[rainbowjehan.livejournal.com]

*flails and clings*

[eremon-lass.livejournal.com]

Oh, and for you: Hamlet Fic.

[rainbowjehan.livejournal.com]

You win my heart.