The RetroLounge Daily Poem Thread (Tue 4/8/2008)

[RetroLounge]

Assault to Abjury

Rain commenced, and wind did.
A crippled ship slid ashore.
Our swimmer's limbs went heavy.
The sand had been flattened.
The primary dune, the secondary dune, both leveled.
The maritime forest, extracted.
Every yard of the shore was shocked with jellyfish.
The blue pillow of the man o' war empty in the afterlight.
The threads of the jellyfish, spent.
Disaster weirdly neatened the beach.
We cultivated the debris field.
Castaway trash, our treasure.
Jewel box, spoon ring, sack of rock candy.
A bicycle exoskeleton without wheels, grasshopper green.
Our dead ten speed.
We rested in red mangrove and sheltered in sheets.
Our bruises blushed backwards, our blisters did.
is it true is it true
God help us we tried to stay shattered but we just got better.
We grew adept, we caught the fish as they fled.
We skinned the fish, our knife clicked like an edict.
We were harmed, and then we healed.

Raymond McDaniel

********************************

:hi:

RL

[lizziegrace]

1. ...

harmed then healed...

:hug:

[xchrom]

2. very interesting poem -- i went looking for info on him.

http://www.coffeehousepress.org/murderaviolet.asp

Murder (a violet)
Poems by Raymond McDaniel

What would happen if an epic detonated and left the shrapnel of its story behind? If each fragment, like a hologram, contained the raw data of the original story, we may be left with this—a stylish fusion of allegorical narrative and traditional lyric questioning guilt and redemption, forgiveness and responsibility. Influenced by sources as diverse as the epic Iliad, the speculative fiction of Samuel Delany, and the poetry of Anne Carson and Louise Glück, Raymond McDaniel has created a quietly powerful, sensual meditation on the religious / military violence that resonates throughout human history. As we move through these poems (designed to be read in any order), we are introduced to Indigo, the vulpine-like Assassin, the janissaries who raised and trained her, the abbess who offers shelter, the sisters who question her presence, and the questions of morality and justice that they engender.

more about him here:

http://fishousepoems.org/archives/raymond_mcdaniel/

[RetroLounge]

3. THank you for this...

:hi:

RL