The Taste

Death is one of the most dominant factors in life. And every living creature struggles with it differently. A story not of redemption, but acceptence

They never talk about the taste.

They speak of the screams. They tell you about the smell. Horrible, in case you wondered. They praise the adrenalin rush that shuttles your body through physical feats your mind previously deemed impossible.

They will encumber you with tales of gore and shake you with grotesque visuals. They might frighten you with stories of acts taken in madness, leading to tearful 

cries. Elaborate on hounding images that will haunt you for the rest of your life. Amaze you with confessions of cowardice or true humanity in a place where it is almost never to be found.

But not a thing is ever uttered about the taste.

They will mention the sweat that will bathe your body in fear. They will recall limbs, refusing to answer their master's calling. They might even drop silent. Their gazes averted, be it due to shame or sadness. They might even pause, shield their mournful expressions with their shaking palm and weep.

They might not say a thing at all. Staring at you with blank eyes devoid of emotion and regret, cold as the mountain of corpses on which upon they stand.

But in all my time, in all the tales and accounts I've taken, not once did someone prepare me for what I deemed was the worst part of them all.

It sent trembles through the buds of my tongue. Sour and distinguished. 

It delivered a touch that felt almost metallic in my mouth. It overwhelmed me with both disgust and bewilderment. The mere concept of tasting it, accidental or not, shook me to my very core.

More than the gore, more than the screams, more than the spine chilling cries of men being deformed in front of me, of the sight of mankind losing its humanity on such a large scale before my very eyes"

Nothing could have ever prepared me for the taste of another human being's blood.

 

Reviews

[barleygirl]

This is one of my more favorite among the writing of yours that I've read so far. In some of your writing, altho I like your pretty regular use of rhyme, it can sometimes feel a bit distracting to the message, as we try to figure out how to read it, to accentuate the rhyming. In this piece, there's nothing distracting from the strong & powerful point of view, drilling down thru the expected layers of observations about death, and finally blowing out the main idea of TASTE. And this is so symbolic in a number of ways. Then the last line delivers that final twist . . . aha! Now drawing this into a macabre realm, when I'd been reading it more in the realistic realm all along! Nice word crafting & very originally-stated.

[LastMonth]

Thank you kindly for the review.
I'm glad that you liked it, this is the first thing I ever posted here. Rather then stray from my 'Style', this came before the style even existed. This is an honest piece, one of the rare ones I write as myself and not as a character. And since you've read so much of my writing, you know how rare that is for me.

Once more, I really appreciate your review. On this piece specifically.

[Shannon]

This one comes screaming off the page. At once simply written and yet complex. Won't let you go, powerfully echoing the subject matter. No one should have to know the taste.

[LastMonth]

You've painted it well. With few words, too.
No one should have to know the taste. I almost feel like this should be on the poem.
Thank you.

[James]

This was very good, very descriptive and the metallic taste is exactly what you get at first. And you are right they never prepare you for the reality of that moment, they can't.

[LastMonth]

I'm late in responding, I must've missed this one.
Thank you kindly for your review, I'm glad it resonated with you. I agree. They can't, even if they do their best. Thing is, the so often don't.

[Randhir kaur]

Well wriitenn..lovely piece of work...worth reading..

[LastMonth]

Thanks a bunch.

[CD Campbell]

Wonderful prose. Can't say I was surprised at the end. It was dark for me all the way through. I can say that the whole time I was with you. I was following the wonder and mystery of taste and why it was delegated to the bottom of the senses by the narrator. It held me to the end. Good work. CD

[LastMonth]

I appreciate the kind words and the review.
I'm glad that you liked it. Some people were surprised by the last line, some, like you were not. And that's perfectly fine. I think that your ability to link into the atmosphere of the poem prepared you for something of that sort. And I'm glad it did.

Thank you once more.

[zunie frost]

Nothing could have ever prepared me for the taste of another human being's blood.
i really like this line
your poem is really great the flow and softness just kept me reading
thanks for sharing such a heart provoking piece of work

[LastMonth]

Thank you kindly for your review. It's appreciated.

[zunie frost]

welcome !!!!

[An owl on the moon]

Your words stir the shadows so deeply, so slowly making them crawl across the screen. And in each line is revealed a new fragment of this dark cloak, until that final thread reveals the depth of this tasting; fierce with wonder.

[LastMonth]

Sometimes in this site a review is as enticing and enjoyble as the story.
That's one of the many things I like here.
Thanks Froman, appreciated.

[Matching Socks]

Your poem is very very good. Most of your readers will never truly understand this but you've done a good job recounting details in such a way that allows us to see it and feel it.

The taste is central to the story, yet you skirt around it and understandably so.
But I think what you need to do next is call this poem 'part one' and elaborate more on 'the taste' in part two.

I think you can take a few angles with it too, like the taste of freedom, the taste of the fight, the taste of evil but ultimately I think what's happened is blood was sprayed and you tasted it. And since you are asking, what you need to focus on is in that moment, when it happened, what are some of the things it made you think and feel. You've told us what you saw, now dig into feelings, your fears, your hopes and do you feel it was all worth it. Strip yourself down. Show your vulnerability. You can do this LM. I believe you can.

[LastMonth]

I appreciate the help Ana.
It'll take time. But maybe I'll expand on this.

[Matching Socks]

You have all the time in the world! :)

[Lyn Anderson]

This is sooo good! I love it. Now, I loved it so much, if there were any small errors, I brushed past them in the read. Such a good sign -- okay, I will stop gushing, excellent poem, sir.

[LastMonth]

You're making me all giddy inside.
Thanks Goode. You're the best.

[Crimson_ish]

I went completely breathless while reading this piece, the start itself evoking an archetype, and you see these pictures in rapidity and grip yourself and shudder and shiver, the start itself prepares you for an impact and indeed the end delivers it, not the way you expected, but instilling within you an entirely new species of thought, the savagery of humankind at an extremity that passes your idea of summit, I am stunned, shaken, and lost, and I love this read, this is one great piece of work, thank you for this!

[LastMonth]

You're making me blush here.
But my fumbling aside,

This is I think.. The first thing I posted here.
I've since mostly tried not to go back to this.
Why? Is it easier for me to write stories that are less... Well. Me?
Maybe. I'm glad that you were affected by this, it warms my heart.

I'm a really upbeat person, actually. But I think we all have these thoughts. I usually supress mine very well. In this poem I think I let it out. If only once.

[Crimson_ish]

haha,It is always the repressed that creates the best.