Wednesday, December 2, 2009

ReadWritePoem post # 103


  


                    A Pomegranate, of Course

                   
A splendid scrotum of
                    juicy ruby seeds
                    caught Eve’s eye
                    and sin
                    is our penalty.

                   
Persephone succumbed
                   to sucking seven juicy rubies
                   in Hades, and
                   Winter
                   is our burden.
            
                  
About a nightingale
                   singing in a pomegranate tree
                   Juliet lied, and
                   lost love
                   is our sorrow.

                  
Surely, there was never danger
                   in apples.

                                  Wanda McCollar

20 comments:

  1. OK, but still well-written

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  2. My Tennessee evangelists all have eve eat the apple.
    I think I like your first best: splendid scrotum may well be the best phrase to come out of this.

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  3. Hi Wanda,

    "splendid scrotum" made me feel kind of uncomfortable! And now you're laying the woes of the world at the feet of the lovely pomegranate - surely not?!

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  4. "scrotum of/juicy ruby seeds" is blunt and very striking, and really links up the sex-fruit-temptation metaphor perfectly. The sucked on rubies carries this on deftly, and then I like how the poem moves to the more sympathetic love of Juliet before its witty close.

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  5. "Disgusting" is the last remark I ever expected!I am baffled ... (oh well, guess I have to have something I've written called disgusting in my lifetime).

    Derrick - why place the blame on the apple?

    Thank you, all, for your comments.

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  6. David - thank you, thank you, thank you!

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  7. Wanda, I believe you are right! I looked again at the picture, and by golly, you got it. Dana would be pleased. What an observant poet you are. Your verses were succinct amply carrying your your conclusion. Thanks for the poem.
    Regards,
    DH

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  8. Not just any old scrotum, but a splendid one! If Eve's succumbing to the sensual allure of the pomegranate brought the Fall, it were a Fortunate Fall indeed!

    I like the way you link two myths, a play, and one fruit to succinctly narrate the etiology of humanity's most constant woes.

    (And the apple, didn't the French think it was a pear?...)

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  9. "of course"....you have taken this to another place on another journey...just what poetry is all about...nicely done ands thanks for sharing your words

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  10. We may have penalties, burdens and sorrow, but thanks to all of that, we have one incredible poem that makes the world a better place. Thanks for writing it and sharing it, Wanda. I love it!

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  11. I have never liked the pomegranate.
    Your poem has helped me understand why.A splendid scrotum? No..it's a nasty one!Sounds as if anonymous has a scrottish religious fixation.
    I liked your poem Wanda.Welcome back.I look forward to a lot more
    well written disgusting poems:))

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  12. This is ballsy, tart and lovely. It scratches the surface and is also deep.

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  13. Aha, quite pithy and true! Funny how you likened the pomegranate to a scrotum, and I to a womb. What is it about this fruit that is so sexual?

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  14. A terrific pomegranate piece! Congrats on Nanowrimo (I won 4 years in a row but didn't start this year). Also your banner photo made me snort with laughter. I love it, love it!

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  15. Wanda,
    Yes, those seeds and that round fertility thing, scrotum. I like your original interpretation of the prompt: tasty flesh and seeds is not only about womb and ovaries…

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  16. Well done, I like the symbolism and the structure! The Hebrew Bible doesn't say what kind of fruit Eve, just that it was a fruit. The pomegranate seems more likely, it's seeds glisten red like blood.

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  17. interesting pomegranate poem! I enjoyed the "splendid scrotum" beginning straight to the ending line of the poor apple so abused in the past.
    -Roberta

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