Like glorious plumes,
the arrows bristled.
His back is filled –
a million fletched missiles.
He is running away
from Cupid’s wishful
fusillade,
all-eclipsing –
loosed hafts, by the fistful.
The Sun sets west,
mournful silhouettes,
these great plumed birds,
blessed,
will fan their feathers,
and breathe their last,
as Cupid rounds the front
to pierce their breasts.
He’ll be disappointed,
at best,
to learn
those older arrows
killed them first,
half-past
the middle marker,
where they’d hoped to rest.
©️ 2020.
Related: Let Fly in Measures
Glorious plumes, glorious piece! 💕
Thank you!
I think my Muse has finished her nap. Hopefully, I can get back in the swing of it.
That’s wonderful!
Don’t get used to this, but I thought I might as well tell you why I like this since it is the culprit piece, haha, and I’ve revisited it several times. I already mentioned that in the sea of mediocre poetry, yours always, by far, stands out. It seems to be for the same reasons as always.
Firstly, your craftsmanship with diction and sound devices. I was smh looking up words as the English teacher, which I usually have to do with your rhymes because of the allusions and sprinkled in technical or foreign words, which usually leads to opening tabs on my computer as I delve into archery or mythology or old Japanese culture (all really cool topics to me).
Here, I can’t seem to get enough of how that “l” alliteration/consonance sounds in the first half. Your poems are simply delightful to the ear.
Then you have the story effect, your tendency to create this mini-episode to convey the very hidden, layered meanings. So it’s just a fun escape/ride/adventure. And with that, the extra imagery naturally seeps in. I love the tie of the plumes and great plumed birds (in my mind, mythological creatures) with the archery theme, a personal biased enjoyment; it reminds me of an old favorite, “Let Fly in Measures.” And, of course (with you), they’re already dead… sigh…getting their wish for rest after all.
The best part maybe: once we get through with ALL of that, we still have to figure out what the heck it all means, in particular to us (readers), which tends to change and evolve over time, hence the lure to revisit. I know you say you don’t know what it means half the time, lol.
And that is what drew me to this as I was perusing the Reader… Your comment says you hope to get back into the swing of things after a muse nap. I’m sure you will. 🙂
Thank you for these kind words! I am certainly trying to balance my creative pursuits – between this and learning music, I think I burned up fuel too quickly. It honestly felt like I emptied a physical reserve. Odd sensation. In any case, the Muse is having her coffee, so she’ll make me a to-do list presently.
I added a link to ‘Let Fly…’ in the post.