ROMANCE, or A CAN OF STAR-CROSSED WORMS

03 18 14

Through the course of migraine
hammered years of youth
I collected and accumulated
like a ball of rubber bands
a compounding adulation for
the moon's mutinous assertion
on the night's clearest skies

So unconditional was my respect
for that neon fingerprint
that I wished I could dislodge it
with my outstretched nails
and bleach it with
the gist of my identity
then wave it in the faces of the men
who valiantly vowed to reel it in
for women made flexible
from the swooning over
such inane proclamations

The men in question
nestled in the the incubator of
enamored screenplays
never were confronted with
an eight-second limit of a lunar rodeo
nor an infinite
faithful soldier's girlfriend's vow to wait
for world's end should a fed-up axis
summon them to cough up
a hyperventilated pledge of allegiance
to that stationary flag assuming
television really was that advanced

I'm well aware of human evolution and
its subsequent marketplace for the stars

But tonight is clear
I can't afford a star anyway
and I'm happy to tattoo my inner
Romeo on the moon from here

Author's Note

An old scrap touched up tonight. I'm not as cynical about this particular stuff anymore, honest.

Reviews

[Rita L. Sev]

A unique view of the moon and its romantic folly - I enjoyed the whole poem, but particularly:

then wave it in the faces of the men
who valiantly vowed to reel it in
for women made flexible
from the swooning over
such inane proclamations

A woman who loses herself to a man who promises the moon deserves what she gets...

[kublakhan27]

Haha Thank you Rita, I'm glad you were able to tap into my decidedly cynical observations...I feel better tonight, but I probably owe that to a shot of whiskey more than anything...you always know just where I'm coming from in every poem, thanks so much :)

[Frieda P]

What? Ha....sorry my first reaction Benji...you shot or overshot the beguiling moon in this ambivalent piece of art. I think you need an intervention of sorts. Me thinks you're jealous of Leo and all his swooning fans, me being at the head of the line...keep your head staged, the lunatics lie in crazy chants sometimes. Blame it on midnight and Romeo, then write perfection in a poem....sing it Benji! You knew I'd love this one *smiling* & a *wink* ;-) xo

Oh and seriously, that title, 'star-crossed worms'...I'll have what you're having!

[kublakhan27]

Haha Ambivalent Mrs.R? I thought this was one of the most direct things I've written in a while ;P Yes I am jealous of a lot of things but I'm always gonna be that way, cuz that's who I am, and that's how my life has unfolded. I'd say this is the best marriage between song and poem that I've ever managed...I mean the song is just spot-on...and yes I did have have a feeling ;D xo

Oh and star-crossed comes from Romeo and Juliet...it means to be jinxed ;P The original title was simply Romance but the extension refers to my uncertainties as to how this decidedly cynical poem (even by my standards) would be received haha

Thank you as always my dearest...you know how much your support means to me :) xo

[Frieda P]

I think the ambivalent part was your adoration in the beginning, then you resigned yourself ultimately in the end....direct perhaps, but you still hopped and took a flying leap. ;-) You know I adore you and your poetic genius Benji, always. xo :)

[Frieda P]

And it's about time you woke up! ha

[kublakhan27]

Haha Well that's kind of a trademark of mine...a lot of my poems do start on a positive note but rarely end on one ;P And I was awake for a little while already just for the record haha Remember I have to get my coffee and stuff before I can even think of turning on the computer ;) Thank you again for the adoration love, it means the world...xo

[♔ CrownedDevil &#..]

Beautifully written. :-)

Kaze~

[kublakhan27]

Thanks so much Kaze :)

[♔ CrownedDevil ☾]

Your very welcome my friend. :-)

[jacob erin-cilberto]

"George Bailey lassos the moon, " or not...

the moon gets leaned on so much or blamed when it comes to love...but really, ???

we shoot the moon in Hearts, we shoot for the moon in life...and yet, the moon is a still being in the sky...and we just dance under its light to whatever steps we choose.

and we choose to win or lose...i guess we have to blame misfortune on something besides ourselves...

and for some of us, even fortune can't seem to be true unless we blame that on something besides ourselves.

a very interesting concept and use of our friend in the sky.

i actually love the dark nights with no moon...or the quarter moons...pretty...and mysterious.

[kublakhan27]

Haha Yes, George Bailey did promise the moon, but of course it's popped up in numerous other places, enough places to inspire this write...I actually prefer the moonless nights as well, but when it is out, it does have a way of bringing out different things in different people, and this is what it brought out of me. So glad you enjoyed it Jacob, many thanks as always.

[zephyr]

Wow … you re really an unique talent. Blown away by this is write.

[kublakhan27]

Thanks so much, I'm humbled by your kind words :)

[Pryde Foltz]

Wry, intelligent and ever so beautiful.

[kublakhan27]

Thank you Pryde, I'm glad you like it.

[DIVYA]

I sense an unconditional celebration of oneself in this unique piece Steve.

Reading it, I also smiled a lot, envisioning those silly flexible women who fainted at the drop of a hat, needing smelling salts and stupidly ardent expressions on 18th century swashbuckiling heroes "who valiantly vowed to reel it in
for women made flexible
from the swooning over
such inane proclamations"

Then again I felt sad at the fickleness of it all where eternity is just a few ticks of the clock.

The poem ends on a greatly positive note. I intend to make it a favorite so I can remind myself what to do with my inner Juliet. And I don't need any red-faced romeos to do it for me.

[kublakhan27]

You always have a way of truly dialing into my works Divya. If bipolar was a poem, I think this would be it...that's probably the origin of this piece to begin with. I felt a very strong need to lift the mood in the end, which is actually the part I worked on tonight. It most certainly didn't end positively when it was originally penned. Thanks as always my friend, for reading, and especially for understanding.

[DIVYA]

You are most welcome Steve. It was a pleasure to flow with dips and ups in this one, the end was especially appreciated, I being on an 'up' at the moment, myself.

Have a great day! (keep writing)

[kublakhan27]

A great day to you as well my friend :)

[Zahra]

Interesting, really nice. Beautiful

[kublakhan27]

Thank you, glad you like it :)

[A. Amos]

This is interesting and mesmerizing piece, simply beautiful

[kublakhan27]

Thank you as always for the kind words A, much appreciated.

[Lyn Anderson]

Oh I am so loving this. And funny, I didn't need a request, no way was I passing up a poem with a title like that.

[kublakhan27]

Thank you K...the title is very telling in this one, a warning of sorts I suppose haha