Thursday, December 3, 2009

Readwritepoem #103- the anti-pomegranate

In the realm of pomegranate

we are believed to be children

of the mythical fruit. Indeed.

Open it!

You search for the seeds:

embryos in the fleshy womb

the color of blood

to become later fruits of consumption.


But the children from the old myth were not born of the pomegranate. They were born of drought and Demeter's fury. Children were born of the gods 'fear of emptiness, they were to suffer in the absence of tithing. Born of destruction…

…and where are now

the invisible children of disaster?

Dark rains (Chernobyl Hiroshima)

Bhopal- deadly gases

The unborn children of the forty millions nine hundred sixty-eight thousands dead ( in the wars of the 20th century).

...another said two hundred millions almost, if one counts all dead in conflicts we haven't denominated as war ...

Never to be born children of mothers jumping of the windows of the Triangle building during the Fire of 1911 because their bosses locked the doors : you shan't leave here unless you are done or dead.

Not even in the realm of pomegranates

were we safe. This land were each had mother and father,

and a heart to hold in front of a just God.

Not even in our washed blue

dresses we saw//our hands in our mothers hands

for school: Old Order Amish Nickel Mines.

This draws from this readwritepoem prompt, a 2x3x7 poem about Bhopal, the remembrance of Frenkel waltzing with Bashir , O. 's post about memory and all other stories of human misery...

and if you did not knew it already, Western Pennsylvania was always a very good place for the pomegranate...

20 comments:

Paul Oakley said...

Oh. Oh...
...

Not even in the realm of pomegranates
were we safe. This land were each has mother and father,
and a heart to hold in front of a just God.


So powerful!

Ana said...

@Paul

thank you. It is a description of Amish country in Western Pa and I guess it's only fair for it was inspired by what one Amish person said in 2006...

Francis Scudellari said...

Such a powerful question, "and where are now / the invisible children of disaster?" The emotion really builds up as the poem progresses.

Irene said...

You see such gravity in the pomegranate. The reader enters an other world realm.

Ana said...

@Francis
thank you, it is a draft, it might be a keeper
@Irene
I'm a little sorry for spoiling the pomegranate. I will keep away from sad movies and books for a while...

Jeeves said...

Powerful and wonderful message

rallentanda said...

I'm glad you mentioned the female machinists who were locked in by the bosses.We should write a poem about this.You poem reinforces the very flawed nature of man. The question is.. ratio.Is it a large minority,large majority or small minority,small majority?...anyway it's enough to keep one swimming with the fish in the ocean and avoiding real life as much as possible. Thanks Ana

anthonynorth said...

Wonderful use of the prompt. So powerful.

Unknown said...

This is a very powerful poem with the fruit becoming a metaphor for protection against human suffering. There is great sadness and grief expressed in your emotional words. Thank you for sharing this work, Ana.

Ana said...

@Jeeves.
thanks
@Rallentanda
Ok, than we shall write a poem about those ladies...
the problem is that reality tends to struck you right in your face when you expect it less, especially if you were trying to pretend it ain’t there. The first time I read about the Triangle fire was in an sweet YA book about immigration I bought for my eldest …
@Anthony
Thank you
@ Linda
Yes, retreat to the womb…

Rethabile said...

"Not even in the realm of pomegranates

were we safe. This land were each had mother and father,

and a heart to hold in front of a just God."

My fave lines. Thanks.

Ana said...

@Rethabile
thank you. It still needs much work , I am wondering if I should use "this land where" or "this lands were// we each had mother and father" .For now it is just a typo that gives the reader a chance to contribute to the interpretation of the line. I am glad you liked it though...

Anonymous said...

This is a strong poem, not in the least because you manage to mix strong political ideas and commentary in with provocative imagery and a substantial metaphor. The pomegranate becomes with its red ovary like seeds the world rending and devouring its own children epoch after epoch, a constant even as systems, concepts, civilizations, religions, arise, change and fade.

Iddy Albatross said...

Who ever thought an idea so powerful as this could have emerged from a metaphorical pomegrenate?

Beautiful...

Tumblewords: said...

Amazing words that came from your view of the pomegranate. Strong!

Ana said...

@Iddy,

thank you for visiting.That was a powerful pomegranate considering what it did to Persephone...

@Tumblewords
thank you

James said...

I love the way this begins. An invitation to darkness and horror. I didn't know about that 1911 fire; how awful. Nice work on the poem.

Ana said...

@James,

I should have avoided dark, serious readings/movies beforehand. But I am glad that in spite of its darkness people still took the time to read it...

Deb said...

I'm grateful you made of the pomegranate what you did. The pairing of poems, the prose, heightened the images, and for me the key was "consumption," a provocative word with many meanings.

The 1911 disaster has given many stories & poems, as it should. I have a book somewhere with billowing dresses on fire. Must recall who wrote it. I think we read it for Jessica's poetry book club a year or two ago...hmmm.

Ana said...

Deb,
thank you for the comment.

yes, there is an entire website about the 1911 event, it was quite a tragedy -one of the many that could have been prevented if the bosses were not to greedy...