The fruit falls swiftly from the tree,
the bulls stand silent in the lake,
the figure crucified is seen
upon the framework of the dream.
With arms spread wide and silent eyes
they lift her high upon the boughs
and turn her face towards the south
where white-flanked cows raise shining knives
above the meek and pious brows.
With sure and steady strokes they strip
pink flesh from each initiate,
to bathe in sacred waters then
the raw-bled truth of god and men.
NB: These were dream figures.
And I extended the poem thus, but did not include the rest for this Dverse post, but thought I would post it for those who might be interested where I took the dream:
NB: These were dream figures.
And I extended the poem thus, but did not include the rest for this Dverse post, but thought I would post it for those who might be interested where I took the dream:
The wise man watches, monkey-faced
and clasps each paw in full embrace
around the pierced and bleeding feet
of Woman, raised … her Self to meet.
Then gathered in small, blackened arms
the corpse is carried to the edge
of water, sanctified and deep
wherein the Goddess counsel keeps.
To lie beneath the water’s chill
and watch through full and empty eyes
the blood-washed sacrifice above
has been her greatest act of love.
https://dversepoets.com/2017/04/04/anthropomorphize-me/
Oh my. I read this twice and still find the imagery very disturbing. An emotional response -- that's what the writer is looking for from the reader and you certainly achieved that here. Too human in its sacrifice. Powerful words here.
ReplyDeleteIt was a powerful and emotional dream. I am glad I could capture it. Thanks.
DeleteOh, I don't know Roslyn; that's a pretty wild dream. It is definitely anthropomorphic. The sacrificial aspect vividly reminds me of a play, but the scene was of course not by cows.
ReplyDeleteI don't know if you've ever seen Equus. There's a dream sequence there where a psychiatrist has a sacrificial dream like that, which is representative of his occupation and it's disturbing consequences.
I loved the extent you took it to. I would not want to spend an afternoon with that herd. It had such fascinating religious overtones, the sacrifice of the sacred cow, wonderful
I found it wonderful as a dream. I did take the poem further but did not post it as part of this exercise.
DeleteA fascinating write (just seen the same word in Mark's comment) and a little disturbing. That said, transpose the woman with the cows...and this (the sacrifice for our bellies?) is what WE do.
ReplyDeleteWell writ and again, fascinating.
Kind regards
Anna :o]
I did take the poem into Goddess territory but did not post all of it for this exercise.
DeleteNice sound to the poem. I like the dream framework for the crucifixion.
ReplyDeleteCrucifixion is an ancient symbol.
Deletea dream like this would wake me up screaming... the image of the flesh being stripped is a terrifying climax.
ReplyDeleteI love mythology and metaphor and I saw the dream as metaphor.
Delete