Sunday, January 10, 2010

A deviled egg? No, you good.

The peripatetic pane of the pilgrim fly
with its thrilling vertigo so perfectly wry-
the kaleidoscope tumble of a glassy thrill
through a white-hot vitreous bethel spills:

the baize purchase of idols periwinkle diffused,
by a thunderous crack decayed and bemused.

Is it better to have too many gods than not enough?

Mrs. Porter could not keep pace
with the scrofulous scribe in yellow-face.

The green rock gnaws the lichen's spectral white,
eagerly mocks the saplings wind blown quiver-
their kind has come in earnest and gone to flight,
blessed by the driving rust of rain's damp sliver.

Mrs. Porter could not keep pace
with the scrofulous wag in yellow-face.

To carry a demon ovum through the boiling dawn
with a tattersall shirt and brown oxfords on,
in indifferent forms with an indifferent clock
waiting for the chattering of monkeys to stop:

it must be bronzed sorely on perilous faith,
that these are the jokes of a fickle wraith.

Mrs. Porter could not keep pace
with the scrofulous fool in yellow-face.

28 comments:

  1. Gerry, your words... And this, especially: "Is it better to have too many gods than not enough?" How to answer this question? If I may... this is just perfectly executed!

    Nevine

    ReplyDelete
  2. Thanks Nevine. Glad you're still following the knucklehead that is me!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Brilliant wording and such a great flow.

    "Is it better to have too many gods than not enough?

    Mrs. Porter could not keep pace
    with the scrofulous scribe in yellow-face."

    Priceless, Mr. B. Just priceless.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Thx Akeith. Just f'ing around with words per usual.

    ReplyDelete
  5. "indifferent forms with an indifferent clock
    waiting for the chattering of monkeys to stop" definately my favourite lines...

    ReplyDelete
  6. Thx Shadow, Glad you found something to like in this freaky piece.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Fabulous imagery and wordplay here....made me smile Gerry! :D

    ReplyDelete
  8. I like how you have combined so many different yet compatible forms and schemes of rhyme, and the little chorus was a quirky recursion, there... lots to enjoy in this one.

    ReplyDelete
  9. The rhyming schemes and strange imagery gave me the impression of an abstracted and adult nursery rhyme. It provoked quite a few readings, and it'll stay rattling around in my head for a little while.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Hi Gerry,

    "The green rock gnaws the lichen's spectral white/eagerly mocks the saplings wind blown quiver" Some of my favorite lines.

    I imagine the speaker as a rather quirky unpredictable jack-in-the-box with a very British accent.

    Great writing!

    ReplyDelete
  11. Thx Ms. Breuning, welcome.
    Harlequin: Yes this is an odd combination of stuff but I had to let it out.
    Francis: Yes, I find it to rhyme w/o that metrical devolution, if you will.
    Jenny: not far off. one of my friends called it J. Alfred Prufrock by which he meant as a odd merge of the literate and the zen of MAD magazine. Actually, it was occasioned by a brief passage in Boswell's Life of Johnson, an advert for Verizon wireless, and my usual obsessions with faith and doubt. Oh, and trying to rhyme just as a lark. I don't suspect the latter to last but, hey, ya never know.

    ReplyDelete
  12. A song you write
    with a slight changing chorus. Zappa!

    Wonderful Mr Boyd!

    ReplyDelete
  13. Thanks Apollinaire, or should I call you Mr. Tattoo? Appreciate your stopping by.

    ReplyDelete
  14. Great rhythm and rhyme. The title is perfect! Love all the words, words, words!

    My fav lines: The green rock gnaws the lichen's spectral white,
    eagerly mocks the saplings wind blown quiver-
    their kind has come in earnest and gone to flight,
    blessed by the driving rust of rain's damp sliver.

    ReplyDelete
  15. Thanks for stopping by Ms. Gilbert. Thought I'd have a little go at the old rhymey-rhymey. Glad to hear you got some enjoyment from this, Cheers.

    ReplyDelete
  16. Very nice and thought provoking.
    I guess we all have our own religion.
    Sometimes other believe in the same.
    Life is such a poker game

    ReplyDelete
  17. I like the sound of "tattersall shirt and brown oxfords on". Nice rhyme scheme.

    ReplyDelete
  18. I like how you're working with sound in this poem... the rhymes and the rolling words... thanks!

    ReplyDelete
  19. Walker: Thanks for stopping by AND replying in rhyme. Double kudos to you!
    Ms. Willow: Thank you. Not sure what compelled me to rhyme, which I usually eschew. While I was monkeying around with this, the poem itself forced me to make it rhyme.
    Ms. Garland: Yes indeed. Facades (sorry for not using the squiggly c) make for interesting metaphors, don't you think! Funny that its a very common pattern in software also.
    Jon: Thanks for stopping by. Glad you found something to like.

    ReplyDelete
  20. This is fun to read aloud
    hearing only the musicality of it.
    Add in the actual vocabulary and it's
    a ride at the carnival!

    ReplyDelete
  21. thx jonnia, glad it gave you some pleasure to read. aloud only makes it better still. Cheers.

    ReplyDelete
  22. I think the rymes highlighted the rich and complex vocabulary throught the rest of this, like a counterpoint rhythm. And I enjoyed the slightly changing chorus each time, too.

    ReplyDelete
  23. I am not a fan of the order. The neatness. The purrrrrrrrrfect rhymes.......normally! I am thinking though, that here it does not grate on me. Perhaps because of your orginality. Your way with words/images.
    So yes, I AM liking this; you.The repetition (with that slight change) works ten fold too.

    ReplyDelete
  24. Hey SarahA! I guess you have awoken from your hibernation. Understand the UK has been cold and snowy. Thanks for the kind words and KEEP WARM! I have not written anything that rhymes in a long, long time. I am posting less these days but I hope it's case of quality over quantity. At least that's the illusion I am using to justify and amuse myself. Cheers.

    ReplyDelete
  25. Oh yeah!
    "Is it better to have too many gods than not enough?"
    Better to have none ;)

    ReplyDelete
  26. This line 'Is it better to have too many gods than not enogh' seems to have caught everybody's fancy.
    What is faith all about?

    ReplyDelete
  27. Good question Smita. I was using that line to wonder about the predominately monotheistic west and the wonderfully complex pantheon of Hinduism.

    ReplyDelete

Yes?