BLOODY INDEED

See notes below.

I.
"For this was on Saint Valentines Day..."

How will you take
your February art?
On paper-cut cardboard hearts
or in the elasticity
of spoken-word history?

With what would you like
to propose a red toast?
Fresh blood from the palm
transfusions of soul handshakes
or love-martyr blood
like metaphor wine
nursed from a youth of irony sour
to a venerable senior of syrupy sweet?

II.
"Young men will do't if they come to't"

No solace in the red lounge
of royal Rome for Mrs. Cruel
not when a fool's golden rule
aims to cut the city mattresses in half
or the heads of holy matchmakers

Make love not war
muse soldiers into shot-ready right hands
while their Christian whistle-blowers
butt principles with Mr. Cruel
the Pagan horn-blower

Dirty money best be on the holder
of the name of Claudius
the Roman gut-checker
not the Dutch home-wrecker
inverted in-law to a love-dead maid
posing as a life-dead flower queen
when the scent of player seed didn't cut it

Who's to blame Mrs. sane Hamlet?
the c**k on the skin
or the one in the sky?

III.
"...and Fortune said it should be you"

At least no dueling conversion campaigns
have slipped on old blood puddles
stumbling their way onto
pop culture's auditorium
defacing the crystallization
of youth's take on the war
of the mythic beefcakes:
six-pack lycans and sick-hot vamps
expurgate lore's chronicles of unholy slaughters
in the name of scimitar teeth
with the silent joust of dream-catching pouts

The mood declines amplification through
battle cries and machismo maledicts
settling for soft soundtracks
of democratic heartbeats

Gloss armories of paper-shield walls
hold tongue swords clamoring
for idol cheek occupation
a whatever giggle in the face
of overbearing history and leather-lunged
threats of verbatim grounding

Finally a war that facilitates
no need for soldiers to learn
how to make beds and no fear
of civilians who want to go to church
and not have to vote there

The sole ghost to fear
in this foolproof social machine
is the armistice of adulthood
maybe more deadly than the growth spurt
of dream riots unleashed by the
fleshification of photo-manipped
impossibilities

All the blood festivals of youth
and the lip gloss line-ups
auditioning for emperors and monarchies
of eligibility envy
only to wind up in the library of adulthood
being informed that history
makes valentines of us all

Author's Note

The title of the first part is from Chaucer's Parlement of Foules:

"For this was on seynt Volantynys day
Whan euery bryd comyth there to chese his make"

There is a whole other story related to the link between birds and the holiday but I didn't get a chance to work any of that in.

The title of the second part is from one of Ophelia's songs in Hamlet (Act 4.5). A reference to Valentines traditions is in the first song. At the time, "cock" had two meanings and one of them was God (which is awkward).

The title of the third part is from the "Roses are red and violets are blue" song from Gammer Gurton's Garland (1784) which give birth to some of the modern Valentine traditions.

Finally the last lines are a reference to the blanket name given to early Christian martyrs.

02 03 11

Reviews

[Androglossia]

Did I sense hypocrisy on here? My nativity did not allow my perception to go overboard. Or it's just me. When I decided to read this piece, I made sure to have a glass of water and an aspirin on my nightstand. No I wasn't overreacting. I thought I was going to war. War of words that is. I'm almost positive that one of my high school teachers made a mention of a certain Claudius Glaber and Hamlet because they seem to ring a bell or maybe it was only my alarm clock ringing?(ok, I was trying to pass a joke there). The truth is, in my country, people delve so much into the history of the prominent countries that colonized their land like a wife that could not get over a cheating husband:) Making Rome an exclusion.


six-pack lycans and sick-hot vamps
expurgate lore's chronicles of unholy slaughters
in the name of scimitar teeth
with the silent joust of dream-catching pouts

I felt this an implicit mockery on the bold attitude that most youths are showing these days or do you loathed Twilight so much that you decided to mention this?

All the blood festivals of youth
and the lip gloss line-ups
auditioning for emperors and monarchies
of eligibility envy
only to wind up in the library of adulthood
being informed that history
makes valentines of us all

Yes, I've noticed it too. Many if not all of the younger generations don't pay much attention on history despite of their many attempts to re-create the glamour of the old-word. Well I guess we all had been to a point when we loved werewolves and vampires, kings, times when were stupefied by superficial love. But things change when we get older and knowing love is harder as we come of age making memories of an easy love everyday a valentine's day. Was I even making any sense?

Trivia: I hate Twilight.

[kublakhan27]

Hypocrisy? Check. War of words? Check. Mocking? Check. Twilight hate? Check. This may be the most precise interpretation anyone has ever offered on one of my pieces...thou hast nailed it, Maryanne ;)

[Androglossia]

Phew! I'm glad. So glad.

[kublakhan27]

;D

[Helena]

Wow! This is well thought out piece. Much work in this and many wonderful stanzas to take in. Well done! Thank you for submitting this to the contest.

Helena

[kublakhan27]

Many thanks for the kind words, much appreciated :)

[Helena]

You're so welcome my friend.

Helena :)

[angelina neves]

well done! macabre!

[kublakhan27]

Thank you Angelina :)

[Michael Kevin Spencer]

An entertaining read, have you ever heard of the band "My Bloody Valentine"?

I think the moral in part of our lives, is people actually like to suffer.

[kublakhan27]

I've heard of them but I haven't listened to them...there is definitely something masochistic about the spirit of this piece :P Thanks for reading.

[Michael Kevin Spencer]

Yes you do know masochism, and what comes after it?

[kublakhan27]

I think I have a general idea...

[Michael Kevin Spencer]

Seriously tell me? I'd like to know, I haven't reached the other side after masochism..

[kublakhan27]

Human beings tend to never be satisfied, and I think that applies to the realm of pain on a subconscious level...maybe it's our way of reaffirming the good things...

[Michael Kevin Spencer]

Like a reverse psychology of perception? We create our own reality?

[kublakhan27]

Nothing gets done the easy way amongst our species :P

[Michael Kevin Spencer]

Do you think you'll stay in the maritimes forever?

[kublakhan27]

For a plethora of reasons - some family-related - I can't see myself leaving anytime soon...I've lived in other parts of the country and have found self-enlightenment nowhere...

[Michael Kevin Spencer]

I think for people like us, it's only really inside that we are going to find it and maybe only by shear acceptance of our peculiar fates. I feel a bit the same way about Montreal, though the french language politics drives me crazy.

[kublakhan27]

I'm with you all the way on that...I thought I was finding myself in various provinces but it more like a process of elimination...

[Michael Kevin Spencer]

Where did you try and where was it interesting? I've only tried here and Toronto.

[kublakhan27]

Three years in Halifax, four months in Banff, another four months in Inuvik...I never had the guts to try Toronto but after four months in a place where the sun was out at 4am, I can probably handle anywhere haha

[Michael Kevin Spencer]

Well Hali kept you for that long, it must have been okay!?

[kublakhan27]

It's a cool place to live and I do miss it, but I never had the money to actually do a whole lot.

[Michael Kevin Spencer]

Yeah well I can relate to that, cities can be expensive...or in that case, a bigger town.

[KAOlmsted]

O.O Holy cats, dude...I always knew you were a smarty pants and this just proves it. I am in LOVE with this piece. I'm shelving it so I can read it over and over again. Yup. You did THAT to me.

[kublakhan27]

:D Thank you Kimmer, I'm so glad to hear that this piece resonates so much with you...I'm probably still blushing from your compliments haha I'm always happy when I hear you relate to something I've written, especially when you fall in love with it haha ;) xoxo

[KAOlmsted]

The pleasure is all mine. I love love love this.

[kublakhan27]

;D

[LA Lorena]

Oh goody! Something dark and macabre to sink my teeth into this valentines day! I swear, if I have to read one more tender and poignant poem of undying love and devotion today, someone is going to be minus an eyeball or two! :)
Brilliantly dark and epic!

[kublakhan27]

Haha no need to worry, you won't find any of that in my catalogue ;) I'm glad you liked it and were able to tap in the sentiment...thanks for reading LA :)

[kublakhan27]

Wow, what a detailed write, this is deep, and a real mind jump.
I like it the way you explain all in your authors note.
I myself am not a Valentine's day lover, I think it is to commercial event...
pumped up, by shops, who forget the true meaning of it.
This write made me think, and it was so dark, it is brilliant.

- Elisa

[kublakhan27]

Haha then we are very much on the same page my friend...it's hard to think of a so-called holiday that has not been commercialized...I'm glad I was able to strike a chord with this piece...your kind words mean everything to me :)

Steve

Steve, you're a brilliant writer, so glad we met , and I can read another good philosopher on here :D xx

[kublakhan27]

Thank you Elisa, you humble me with your compliments...I'm happy that I can write things that you relate to, just as I relate to your stuff...take care :D xox

Thank you for being you, and take care too! don't feel humbled, I talked the truth :) - Elisa

[kublakhan27]

:D

xoxo

[Ufi Auttorri ~ UfoAutho..]

Believe it or not, I will be brief. My review is this: Great job! :D

The rest of this puss comes from the infection of a self-inflicted paper cut of the tongue... obtained while licking envelopes used to mail February's utility bill payment and a couple of make-believe Valentine's Day cards to cardinals that sit in lofty places.

"So, who among us, here, has a wounded heart? Once that can be determined with any reasonable certainty then we can begin passing out the mercurial band-aids and tincture of carbonized, triple-folded and hammered steel tang. The difference here, in this piece, is between giving blood and taking it; by force if necessary. In this case, the reader's head is placed between the jaws of the verse vise (I was going to write vice but that would have been a sin) and the screws are turned with the kind of infinitesimal increment that might lend support to a theory that death is but an asymptotic journey on the way to infinity."

No. This is heart-felt. It is not sarcasm.

[kublakhan27]

Haha yes that pretty much sums up my February, minus the make-believe cards :P Thank you as always for the understanding and kind words my friend :)

[stephen dillon]

oh i see.

[stephen dillon]

"...and Fortune said it should be you"

At least no dueling conversion campaigns
have slipped on old blood puddles
stumbling their way onto
pop culture's auditorium
defacing the crystallization
of youth's take on the war
of the mythic beefcakes:
six-pack lycans and sick-hot vamps
expurgate lore's chronicles of unholy slaughters
in the name of scimitar teeth
with the silent joust of dream-catching pouts

The mood declines amplification through
battle cries and machismo maledicts
settling for soft soundtracks
of democratic heartbeats



perfect who did this?

[kublakhan27]

That would be me haha Glad you like it my friend.

[stephen dillon]

so was that the only part by you?

[kublakhan27]

No, I wrote the whole thing...the titles of each part were the references I used.