honeydew - new poem
The second in the new series of poems I'm currently working on. Shorter than the previous one (Marsden Moor), and more quickly written.
Clouds froze as pumice and charcoal. As apples and honey. Walk out to them. Onto them. Across them. Walk out past golden hour. Walk out past blue hour. Walk out past dawn. Walk out past bitter leaf and honey. Past carpet, garden, landscape. Past crawling wasps and paintings. And turn to rain.
It contains a brief quote from Frederick Douglass’ 1857 speech, ‘If There Is No Struggle, There Is No Progress’.
Honeydew
Walk morning. Walk memory. Walk golden hour. Walk capital. Walk laureate. Walk heavy rain and milk.
Bitter apples. Bitter apples: raindrop hung. Bitter apples: peel. Peel and slice. Bitter apples: sugar. Bitter apples: hollowed by wasps. Bitter apples: home. Home and childhood. Apples. Capital. Sugar. Grafted. Scion. Capital. Hollowed by wasps. Curdled milk. Bitter apples: walk morning. Bitter apples: walk evening. Golden hour. Blue hour. Bitter apples: walk sugar. Bitter apples: walk capital. Autumn. Autumn. Wet grass.
Walk sugar. Walk sugar history. Walk wasp. Walk ant. Walk apple. Walk milk. Walk capital. Walk memory and apples. Walk the dead back to life. Walk the living back to unbeing. Walk back to full. To full. To self pushed out. To memory.
Ants. Ants farm aphids. Ants milk aphids. Honeydew. Aphid eggs stored over winter. Apple tree. Apple graft. Scion. Distorted growth, honeydew and sooty mould.
Blue hour. Blue hour. Residual sunlight. Blue hour. Sun below. Blue hour. Colours grey. Colours fall. Degrade. Blue hour falls. Degrades. Nocturnal moth. Nocturnal moth with colour vision. Greys turn colour. Flowers. Nectar. Sugar rich. Sugar feeding. Flowers. Nocturnal sugar. Late colour. Hover. Hover. Blue hour. Purkinje effect. Shift along the spectrum. ‘The limits of tyrants are prescribed by the endurance of those whom they oppress.’ Blue hour. Roll back. Golden hour. Roll back. Don’t see. Don’t see or dream. Don’t sleep. Capital. Milk sticky. Milk and honey. Teeth ache. Feet severed. Spine severed. Hypermobility. Milk and honey. Smother. Endurance. Hollowed by wasps.
Bent back. Hollow. Bent back. Purple and yellow. Glitter in spine. Gliiter in eyes. Glitter in hearing. Glitter in bridge of nose. In teeth clenched. Glitter in cough. Bent back. Yellow joints. Pale joints. Bent back. Knuckled spine. Walk back. The smell of grass. Snap back. The limits of tyrants. Peel and slice. Monetise. Walk back. The day is white and grey. The day is rain.
Crown of roses. Crown of driftwood. Crown of apples. Crown of wasps. Walk sugar. Walk wet grass. Walk nectar. Seeds and nectar. Capital. Crown of bones. Bonemeal. Slow release. Foot slip. Leaf slip. Rose graft. Magpie hides leaves in hollow of lawn. Phosphorous and protein. Amino acids.
Bitter hollow. Bitter back. Bitter apple. Bitter rose. Bitter leaf. Scented. Fire and fallow. Bitter milk. Charcoal.
Walk on paper. Gummed paper. Burnt paper. Burnt bark. Walk on grass. On rotted apples. Hollow apples. Sugar crystalises. Honey poured on paper. Poured on bark. Poured on feet. Poured on charcoal. Honeycomb. Pumice stone. Growing substrate. Walk on cinders. Purification. Garden. Landscape. Carpet. Map. Capital. Honey poured on carpet. Honey poured on map. Garden is paradise. Garden is power. Garden is capital. Garden is honeydew. Tired. Ants gather. Mutualism. Charcoal garden. Landscape is power. Landscape is politics. Landscape is garden. Honey poured on painting. Burnt maps.
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