Heirlooms

you once dreamed

of a melon

and the boy

who butchered it

with a ballpoint pen

as though he was carving out

the back of the neck

of the white man

who killed his father

long ago on the

Nebraska prairie

 

but now those

melons

sit neatly in a room

under the glow of

ultraviolet lamps

aside the petri dishes

and you watch contently

as the whirring meters

pump plasma into them

and yes

you can feel it inside

 

an eyeball can be peeled

you say

but not like a grape

and anyway

melons should not be tampered with

those small citadels of virtue

wisdom and power

much too much

like us

when we sleep

 

 

 

 

Reviews

[. serah .]

-- wow... this piece is very intriguing for me... -- the most obvious question in my mind is about "small citadels of virtue/ wisdom and power" and whether the speaker in this poem loves human beings so much that he is saying that they are small citadels... -- the next question is about the last line... -- "when we sleep" for me is about the subconscious mind... -- the dream state... and this then ties to the first line... and makes me wonder if this was one of those lucid dreams that ended in a good way... or if the speaker is trying to sort things out by writing about the dream... -- i have a massive lucid dreaming problem... which rages like a forest fire from time and time... but most of them are nightmares... terribly nasty ones... -- unlike this piece, they don't leave me thinking about the human mind and its potential in a peaceful way...

p.s. the way you've written this piece is amazing... it teaches the reader how to write an allegory/extended metaphor... -- the use of the word "and" in line three is spectacular... -- it gives one an insight into how two apparently disconnected images (the melon and the boy) can be connected... -- so thank you for the poetry lesson...

[SkinlessFrank]

thanks sereh....your interpretation is right on....i am plagued by lucid dreams night after night....something i consumed?

[. serah .]

-- the privilege is all mine, Maestro D. ... -- i'm going through a phase of lucid dreaming as well these days... trying to break the pattern... at least in my case, it has nothing to do with what i've consumed... -- my problem is that i am an excruciatingly quiet person in the real world and i tend to internalize things that i should be expressing... that's why i try my best to write a lot... -- but i dunno if this is the case with you too...

-- are you excruciatingly quiet too, Maestro D. ? ...

[SkinlessFrank]

.. painfully shy

[. serah .]

-- oh, no... that could well be the problem... it's definitely so in my case...

[Orlando Murcia]

Such an amazing write, different than what I usually read...

Great work

[L]

This one especially fascinated me. I think it's the idea of melons as citadels of virtue like us. It hung around in my mind like small change you can never seem to spend. Impressive piece :)

[Emily B]

oh, all the pretty little words, with the pumping blood

it is good to visit you today

[Muse]

an eyeball can be peeled

you say

but not like a grape

And you know this how? lol

A delightful read Frank...thank you for sharing. :D

[sienikeha]

extraordinary. such a simple muse. such plump thoughtstreams!

[Poetic Justice]

you are unique..and I missed you also..I find your work funny but disturbing..a wonderful combination.

[Baby Ricochet]

WOW! I feel like I'm trespassing over here on the front lawn of the big poet's frat house. Puts into perspective the crap i write

[Kenneth The Poet]

I find this piece, while disturbing, quite uplifting. If memory serves correctly, penicillin was discovered in a mold that thrived on a rotten melon. A stirring piece, I think.

I like the metaphor, and unique shocking comparison. There is some truth in your words, at least there can be... creepy but interesting :D