(pomegranate by Nasos3)This week for the poetry prompt from RWP we were to write something on pomegranates! After much head scratching, this is what I came up with.
Beneath gnarled branches
lies Eden’s temptation,
heavy sanguine globes, dusty
crowned, leathery wombs
encasing balaustine ovaries.
Wresting apart, rending wetly,
tangy bright nectar
stains greedy mouths
and drips sticky syrup
onto the earth.
Hi Cynthia,
ReplyDelete'Balaustine' used in two poems so far and I never heard of it! I like your take on the more earthy, procreative aspects of the fruit
I am with Derrick - thought to myself, "What does "Balaustine mean and what does it have to do with ovaries?"
ReplyDeleteHaving cracked open a pomegranate this week (because of the prompt) I can say they really do look like ovaries on the inside. I could write a second poem now. LOL.
I had to look the word up too. How cool for a fuit to have it's own specific adjective.
ReplyDeleteI really like the poem, the words you chose for this are evocative and vivid. I especially like "sanguine globes."
I learned something as well. Thanks for that...
ReplyDeleteAnd this is an earthy poem...and well done at that.
I love reading poems that are so full of description you can taste it. There's nothing better than conveying something through the senses. You have succeeded in doing that for me, today...and with such brevity!
ReplyDeleteThe concept of leathery wombs is really nice.
ReplyDeleteI really like the reproductive language and analogies as well as the very evocative properties you associate with them (e.g. "leathery", "heavy sanguine"), and ultimately the return of even the spilled to somehow fertilize the earth.
ReplyDeleteOne dry verse and one wet one.
ReplyDeletewell cynthia lots to like in both stanzas of the piece. some very strong language shining as well "sanguine globes", "leathery wombs", and "balaustine ovaries", all puzzled together to render some fine verse. enjoyed. -lawrence
ReplyDeleteI like b_'s observation.
ReplyDeleteAll fruits are ovarian. But few so totally and visually so as the balaustine. This is a very fine observation on the prompt, Cynthia. Very nice!
nicely done cynthia..thanks for this
ReplyDeleteI love the way your poem "drips" with imagery and the way you have related it to the fertility of the earth. Thank you for writing this and for sharing it today. Expressive!
ReplyDeleteShort sweet pithy but too many seeds...the idea
ReplyDeleteof biting into an ovary makes me want to dive to the bottom of the pool which I will do right now.
Cynthia, a short pithy poem that celebrates the associative properties of the fruit with reproduction and nature.
ReplyDeleteAdd me to the list of folks that had to look up "balaustine". I like the "forbidden fruit" theme that is tucked in here, especially considering the Persephone myth that goes along with the fruit, which again ties into fertility and the seasons. A short poem, but one that elicits much thought :).
ReplyDelete"Earthy" indeed! I love your "female" take on the fruit. You have such a unique viewpoint in your poetry. Excellent!!
ReplyDeletewombs and ovaries, I can definitely see that. And you made them taste like real fruits of the Earth...
ReplyDeleteI googled for Balaustine. Enjoyed this one so much
ReplyDeleteA clever and tasty poem! I, too, Googled Balaustine.
ReplyDeleteFull of temptation.
ReplyDeleteKonstantin.
dusty
ReplyDeletecrowned, leathery wombs
encasing balaustine ovaries
My favorite image. Haunting. Great job!
so deliciously luscious!
ReplyDeleteI love the reproductive metaphors -- nice work!
~angie