Rochelle Owens: 'Hermaphropoetics' / 'Longing'
In a dream
of a hermaphrodite
in silhouette
slender and elongated
a hermaphrodite
shimmering in scene after scene
staged and scripted
out of a lost narrative
discovered after the siege
longing thrown onto the body
an asymmetrical form
hyperfeminine hypermasculine
collecting and sorting
chicken bones turkey bones
exquisite the beaks and feet
organizing bones
lovely the pigeon bones
sculpted delicate
gothic cathedrals
shimmering in scene after scene
the shape of vertebrae
rising from a postapocalyptic pit
the waves of the Atlantic crash
the RUINSCAPE disappearing
then the LANDSCAPE yielding forth
dandelion yielding forth
lemon trees strawberry
hibiscus mango goose grass
pomegranate
leaves spreading undulating
secreting mucus nectar
amorous the greedy seed amorous
covetous the warring roots
murderous sex cells
hypermasculine hyperfeminine
hungry the fruiting bodies
swallowing the prey
the waves of the Atlantic crash
In a dream of a hermaphrodite
wanting to starve
wanting to devour heat and light
eating a scoop of sand
organizing skull wishbone femur
assembling structuring
gables spires parapets
lancet arches flying buttress
rib vaults
graceful the flowing tracery
a hermaphrodite
sculpting angels prophets kings
gargoyles saints
shimmering in scene after scene
the shape of vertebrae
rising from a postapocalyptic pit
[NOTE. This is the fourth installment of Rochelle Owens’ ongoing work, Hermaphropoetics, to be presented on Poems and Poetics. Of the series as a whole she writes: “Rare but real. Accidents of art and nature in which the senses entwine. Hermaphropoetics, a series of poems inspired by spores, fruiting bodies, rupture, comfort with the rottenness. Metamorphoses, irregular sprouting of new neurological connections leads to the process of writing and living. Poetic meanings that lay in wait underground.” The proof of course is in the work itself.]
Poems and poetics