Man

a poem of passion and dreaming...

Man 

who are you half-face?
that face, transient, its need 
to reveal, red, black, red
a rose hip tossed in the wind 

crack your whip on the hide of 
a bone coloured bull, the weight
of you makes him sweat, his
sickle horns sharp, for the tomorrows 
that line up to be tossed aside 

who are you that grunts under 
the weight of a crown of antlers 
while your face shifts to the sound,
elephant man, jaguar man, beloved man 

you can’t be handsome 

instead you dye your meaty hands
with the blood of sloes, mend 
your cape with ravens feathers, prick 
your fingers and bleed, your stained skin 
cloak transformed sacred fleece 

my punishment is your hand 
on the reins, my suffering 
is your other hand urging the bull on
my pain is
I am not the bull

outcast from a galactic ovary
your making is sublime 
you sprang fully formed into my bed 
seduced me, even now the sentinel 
birch stands over us

your touch, like a gaggle of pins
pricks, with all the finesse 
of a snake in the desert
tongue flicking, the birch 
lands cold, gold coin 
across our burning nakedness

your cape is the richest sky 

(not sure of the artists name, I discovered this wonderful sculpture at a party in Aynhoe House)

I wrote this poem several years ago and it was published last year in Mugwort online magazine. it was inspired by a dream I had when I was about 15, a true coming of age dream, very erotic and mysterious. A minotaur in a cobbled city chasing me, wanting to be caught but wanting to run too. Writing the poem as an adult it mixed in with how it really feels to desire and love. I wrote it after reading a collection by Zoran Ančevski titled Strategy of Defeat and one by Cathryn Valente titled Apocrypha on reading it I can feel their influence and I know full well the line “outcast from a galactic ovary” was shamelessly nicked from Apocrypha as I just thought it was utterly wonderful, there may be more that poured in from that unconsciously it’s such a spectacular collection (find it and read it and your life will be richer!).

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