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Thursday 15 September 2011

The Vampire Wood


This image is one of several offered by Poetry JAM as a prompt this week.

Do you see the writing there upon the hills?
Do you understand those annotations in the trees?
Have you seen the angels bleeding D.N.A.?
Do you see a new world blown towards us by the breeze?
It's easily mistaken for a mist
in which the normal outlines have been blurred,
and capital that nature thought ring-fenced
is as sacrosanct as droppings from wild birds.

Everything is now in different clothing
and everything we knew has come adrift -
it's as though we've stolen what was offered as a gift.
In the bark and in the creepers life is loathing,
but almost all of it knows neither what or why -
not that its heritage has been severely blighted
and all its inner yearnings unrequited,
that nothing now is open to the eye.

We have been mugged, I think it's fair to say
by muggers wearing clothes that nature cut,
but hidden in the ample folds, they've tucked away
the weapons of the vampire and the slut.
There's not a leaf on any tree that we can trust -
and if the optimist thinks man can readjust,
it's because the change is deeper than his vision
and he misses what the world has undergone.

26 comments:

Jessica Thompson said...

Creepy...
Come check me out =) alphabetalife.blogspot.com

Brian Miller said...

as if we have stolen what was once offered as a gift...its heritage has been blighted...who is the vampire of the wood...but we...

good stuff dave

kaykuala said...

Dave,
Sometimes it's sad to see how nature had been abused. All in the name of development and progress not counting also anti-social acts. Excellent piece

jabblog said...

Will there be a world for our great-grandchildren's great-grandchildren?Frightening thought.

ArtistUnplugged said...

I love the image you posted with your thoughtful words...powerful. Thank you for stopping by my site, I appreciate it. By the way, my landscape painting is in acrylics, will probably post the finished painting by tomorrow.

Jack Edwards Poetry said...

I love the use of rhetorical question and rhyme. My favourite line is:

'Have you seen the angels bleeding D.N.A.?'

Lolamouse said...

Very moving and haunting piece.
The last stanza is particularly ominous. (Hey, where's the sparkly gorgeous vampire hunk in this poem? You've misled!!!)

nicolewian said...

Wow! Here for the first time. This is powerful. There are so many great lines in here. "stolen what was offered as a gift". "There's not a leaf on any tree that we can trust". Good stuff. I'm following. :)

Jenny Woolf said...

I like this poem - as ever, you are on the edge and one feels that there are exciting and subtle ideas in your mind. I have to say that on this occasion I don't quite understand what you are getting at, perhaps because for me there is something romantic rather than sinister about the prompt picture.

Samantha said...

wow gud one

Gerry Snape said...

"Do you see a new world blown towards us by the breeze".....
I love this line ...it sends my imagination into all sorts of backwoods!

Rose said...

I love this piece - powerful and imaginative - and everything we knew has come adrift - that is scary.

Windsmoke. said...

Very enjoyable and creepy :-).

Anonymous said...

you paint a bleak picture with no hope at the end ~ it's too true what has happened, but i cannot let go a shred of hope.
dani

Mary said...

So good, Dave. Nothing profound to say tonigh, but only appreciation for your words.

ShonEjai said...

Beautiful poem! Your style of writing is mesmerizing. Well done!

Dave King said...

Jessica
Thanks. Will do.

Brian
Spot on! We ARE the vampires. Thanks.

kaykuala
Exactly so. The list is endless.

jabblog
It is the crucial thought, though, the thought the planners, developers and "forward thinkers" have too infrequently. Thanks for your response.

ArtistUnplugged
M<any thanks for your generous response. I shall come over for a look at the painting. Acrylics is the one medium I have never used, I tend not to think of that one!

Jack
Great to have you visiting. Helpfulcomment. Thanks for it.

Lolamouse
Sorry about the mislead, but I didn't say anything about a sparkling hunk - or any sort of hunk! Thanks for the comment, though.

nicolewian
Hi! and welcome to the blog, good to have you visiting, and many thanks for the fab' comment.

Jenny
Understood. I have to admit that my first reaction to the picture was a more romantic one, but I am rather obsessed with the notion that very little of nature now is what it seems. At any rate, that take on it took over. Appreciate your comments. They are, as always, very helpful.

Samanthat
A warm welcome to you. Your visit and your comment are very much appreciated. Thank you for coming.

Gerry
Thanks for this comment. Interestingly enough it was the first line that I wrote. The rest of the poem emerged from it.

Rose
Thanks a lot. Yes, I find the thought very scary. Thanks for picking out that phrase.

Windsmoke
Thanks for each, just about what I intended!

haikulovesongs
Welcome again, good to have your thoughts. It was one of my bleaker moments, I must confess. Normally I am more of the optimist, though in this regard I find it difficult to let my natural optimism have full rein.

Mary
I'm very happy to settle for that. Profundity is not mandatory!

ShonEjai
Hi, great to have you visiting. Thank you so much for the very generous comment. Much appreciated.

Carl said...

Have you seen the angels bleeding D.N.A.?
Do you see a new world blown towards us by the breeze?
It's easily mistaken for a mist

Simply amazing!

hedgewitch said...

I really appreciate the complexity here; looking at nature as a reflection of our own depravity is a bit of a reversal, but if we are part of nature(undeniably) then the reverse must also be argued, as you do so eloquently(and creepily) here. Excellent stuff, David. I can't imagine why I haven't been here before--I think I've confused you with another recently encountered David--anyway, thanks for your many comments at my place, and I will be back.

Scarlet said...

A very creative tale you weave here Dave. I like the hills, trees, bark..until the weapons of the vampire and the slut.

And your last lines are thought provoking:

and if the optimist thinks man can readjust,
it's because the change is deeper than his vision
and he misses what the world has undergone.

Jinksy said...

I think you caught the claustrophobic feeling in this photo - the greenery does seem to be strangling life...

gautami tripathy said...

I loved the rhyming...

stapled maples

Helen said...

Image and words, a beautiful combo.

Maxwell Mead Williams Robinson Barry said...

it is good to see things in different perspective.

profound take on the image.

The Bug said...

I wrote on the same picture & I had planned a totally different poem than the one that emerged.

My favorite line from yours is, "There's not a leaf on any tree that we can trust."

Anonymous said...

Excellently stated...and I concur... It's not necessarily hopeless, only realistic and so very clear, the way you put it.