Monday, April 09, 2007

The Hornet's Nest

[Poem Request #5]

Not quite an ode I'm afraid, and not perhaps what 'umble fan had in mind, but well.

There was a hornet's nest inside the slab.
A current of rage beneath the weight of things.
Not a hive, you understand, nothing
sweet and dangerous like memory;
just the wings of doubt drilling
away at the drab walls, finding the gaps,
making indignation their home.

You were afraid. "Leave it alone", you said.
But I knew how the lie repeated
becomes an established thing, the insistent flaw
in a summer washed white, the sting
of the tongue behind clenched jaws.
So we filled up the crack. Poured cement
like complicity. Learnt to ignore
the truths buzzing in the brittle air.

There was a hornet's nest inside the slab.
Now the sense of disappointment is everywhere.

10 comments:

Sanketh said...

Awesome .... esp, the sting of the tongue behind clenched jaws.

Anonymous said...

Niiiice!

Anonymous said...

very nice poem

Nishant Neeraj said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Nishant Neeraj said...

Cool, and the comment by celia adds stars in it. :)

Anonymous said...

wow wow wow :)

tangled said...

Oh, lovely. Thank you!

I only wish you'd said concrete.
They pour concrete in slabs, you know. :D

tangled said...

And now that I say it, 'concrete like complicity' is yummy.

Falstaff said...

dufusmaximus: Thanks

celia: Actually, I already know several homemade bongs. They're good friends of mine.

perspective: Thanks

vineet: Thanks

nishant: Yes, it does, doesn't it?

cathatfished: Thanks

tangled: you know what? you're right. And concrete would rhyme nicely with the repeated in the second line as well. Sigh. I must be getting old.

tangled said...

Are you not allowed to edit poems once written?
Wordsworth wandered lonely as a cow initially, I heard. :)