DONKEY BOY
The following poem comes from Read Write Poem’s prompt #81 – a picture of some sort of donkey-man looking quite glum sitting under a spindly umbrella. Dana Guthrie Martin, RWP’s resident maven, shared the image, which is brought to us by nwolc.
DONKEY BOY
This is how it feels to be kicked in the heart.
Worst is the hole left behind, and the bubble where ribs bulge back.
Last night, after a long round of such talk,
Sally said I should do a fire walk. I’d feel great,
better than all the therapy that hadn’t cured a thing.
If hot coals didn’t work then nothing would.
Just me and a few smoldered thoughts
with which to cross the threshold.
I’d know everything I needed to know
as soon as I tasted burn at the back of my throat.
Half way I’d see the beauty in the end of things.
How like cures like, what bows wrap shut.
None of which means much atop flame,
oxtail smoking nearby
for later when we’ll eat and tell stories of our lives made of flesh.
Tags: animal poems, Dana Guthrie-Martin, fire poems, poem, Portland poetry, read write poem
Marvelous imagery here. Absolutely marvelous
so does it really work?
I like your poem.
Fantastic — I love “How like cures like, what bows wrap shut.” Sound and sense, that’s a great line.
Yes – a good firewalk will take care of just about anything. Or so I’ve heard.
Great phrases here.
equus asinus asinus
Thanks Nathan – I’ve always loved the phrase “like cures like” but haven’t used it in a poem before. The second part of that line, “bows wrap shut”, took me a while to boil down to. At some point it read, “how bows tend to tie,” which, while musically is nice, takes too long to get to the point. Plus I like ending the line on “shut” here, as opposed to the “high” vowel sound.
I love the lines:
“I’d know everything I needed to know
as soon as I tasted burn at the back of my throat.”
I like where all the accented syllables fall in these lines, as well as the end rhyme, and of course the concept of knowing everything when the body reaches a certain state and has a specific reaction.
Migraine is gone today. The world is huge and wonderful when I am not in pain.
Thanks Dana – great comments. You’ve already opened me up to a couple of edits that could really tighten some of the language.
nicely done dave
Thank you much.