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But I wondered if, afterwards, the willow trees would still be
as lovely as they were, full of insect secrets and of the shimmering
and long-haired seraphs coupling with tremulous violins.
Would the flesh of mangoes still reveal the mating
of anemones? I too wanted to rock in waves that way, to grasp
kelp as if a sea-horse with its tail. You see, I kept espying
god among reflections in grass, variations of stone
formations, the glistening sex of splayed summer
leaves, so many notes and letters — the tattering
of all correspondences lost to breath — and lightning
bugs among so many different idols and flickerings, please undress
me now and like a lily. In the morning, I know, I've rehearsed
this before (learnt it, in fact, by heart), we'll only be left
with want; when the pill box is spilled,
when the after-rain mushroom's hood unpuckers from her stalk,
when the candle's wax has relaxed its rivuleting course, when the bee's
sting can no longer choose among so many unvirgining flowers, I will part
your curtains, open your door so uneasily.
| ABOUT THE AUTHOR: |
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Jenny Boully was born in Thailand, reared in Texas, and now lives in Brooklyn. Her book The Body is available from Slope Editions. Her work has been included in The Best American Poetry 2002, The Next American Essay, and Great American Prose Poems. |
©2003 Jenny Boully and Nerve.com
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Commentarium (12 Comments)
great poem, I liked it very much, part of it struck me as something I lived myself
Wow...preeeeeeetty....durrrrrrrghhhhaaaaaaaaah.
very good. I don't like the first few lines: I find the imager overly sentimental ("willow trees", "tremulous violins"), and somewhat impenetrable ("insect secrets", "mangoes mating of anemones"). It's tone reminds me of coleridge's 'my prison the lime-bower tree', in its hypothetical voice, sense of longing.. but it isn't quite pulled off. and the word 'espy' sticks out like a sore thumb, but it marks a turn in the poem from the conditional to the explanatory, a turn much for the better, and some of the images are really sublime "glistening sex of splayed summer leaves", "the tattering of all correspondences lost to breath". The humble admission, self-conscious interjection of the narrator, "I know..." is really pulled off well, which is hard to do.
The representation of sexuality is also pretty interesting. The phallic mushroom--poisonous, the penetrating bee-sting, semen wax... At first I wondered if this is a representation of heterosexuality or not: what does "I will part your curtains, open your door so uneasily. " It seems to be an image of penetration but it's spoken by the narrator, who I presume if female, but I dunno. Interesting.
( "unvirgining flowers" reminds me of blake: "o rose thou art sick! / the invisible worm / that flies in the night / in the howling storm / has found out thy bed of crimson joy / and his dark secret love / does thy life destroy" )
i'm happy to see these suggestions here. a quick read spills forth thoughts of amanita [which i've never sampled],
and the 'virosa', well, i stray toward ayahuasca brews in association [also never sampled]. i shouldn't be sending this, so light on solidity and substance, but, yet, peering into your poem brought me here. there's so, so much, that our "non-ordinary reality" phobic currency misses us!!
hurray!
Beautifully done. Lots of wonderous imagery. I think NK who wrote on 05/30 needs to take a yoga class.
FINALLLLLLLLLY. Thank you. A poet. How refreshing for the poetry corner. Indeed. You found one, now do it again. And again, yeah like that..oh yeah again. THANKYOU.
speechless... this poem breathes longing all to familiar... perhaps, the truest of expressions. well done!
okay. it's not as good as her book which is awesome. check it out. out, m
jenny boully is very hott...i should know because i'm from nd and saw her rock first-hand
Hi Jenny - I wanted to tell you how delightful this read was to me. I've been tinkering with a poem involving Amanita, the Green Fairy, and the blue lotus. My theme is very similar to yours.
I'm glad I stumbled onto your poem.
Dave Ruslander
Author of Voices in My Head
www.sellyourbookhere.com
I'm not easily impressed. . . but that's imprseinsg me! :)
Now you say something