heliotrope

[Raz]

as distinctly as sunset
we recall the hue of your rise
bred on slaughterhouse smoke
your exhalations burn the world
with violence obscure
color as dead
as the language of your kiss
always known to men
who've thought ourselves elevated
rarified
but were only ever disciples
of some god long decayed
we've all been fooled by your flare
seeing sustenance
in your predatory shine
an exquisite bloom
reaping as it's devoured
a terrible nebula
entrancing all who dare gaze
Hadean saturation
then like some mismatched myth
our wings all melt
the pomegranate is hollow
and we've fed the smoldering walls
of your cinder womb

 

[keeping]

'terrible nebula' - that really rolls off the tongue; way better than 'cellar door'.

was this poem a direct reference to the colour? or is the title circumstantial?

 

[Raz]

I just found the sound of the word set me off so I googled it for associations and found that heliotrope was a colour used in victorian mourning and a plant that kills livestock among other things...kind of makes me think of something vivid but toxic

 

[tocooperate]

toxicity often begins as a vivid curiosity

this piece is not only beautiful but exactly what I was looking for! been having some trouble wrapping my head around transitioning from lyrical writing to prose. the freedom is initially puzzling because you want it to read differently, I didn't want it to conform to what has always been the beginning of my songwriting process: a sound. but this poem absolutely has a sound! I wonder though is it simply the perceived sound of "technically" proficient poetry.. or was it apparent and therefore influential on the word choice itself?

oo this just got fun