Beef of Comfort
Instructions for a feeling: A poem on domestic horror and survival
In your sepulchral mind,
I was never laid repose
Next to
All the things you thought
were alive.
-
Nightshade and rose.
Fade and glow.
Sun and moon.
-
That boon, that boom
Was only an alligator
Waiting to thunder.
A gourmands hunger
In the womb of someone
Exiguous and Green.
-
Green for a pay.
Climax for a rush.
-
I flee my own pain
To somewhere serene,
To a blue lagoon,
So I can lampoon
monotonous
Infidelity in its own sonorous
pool.
-
To be young is to be young.
To be old is to be old
Once.
-
What colour is her hair?
How wide her hips ?
How tall has she grown to
malignancy,
Pullulating in your thoughts?
-
Is she at the stage of
Carcinoma?
Your gaze vellicates,
Then antagonizes her skin.
-
I ravaged our rubbled sheets
To excavate my furrowed
brows,
Finding expired makeup.
The secrets I am.
Am I the wasted
hairstyles in the vacuum
brush?
-
All the hits and misses.
I yearn for someone.
I’ve fed you beef of comfort,
But I’ve had to call you back
From the abysmal sewage.
-
I’ve fed you beef and
comfort.
I sat alone with vegetables
and water,
Feeding you piquancy, and patience, and the susurrus
peace I
loan.
-
I will stay blindly alive instead
of a coma.
A/N: I've had to go to some uncomfortable places in order to write this poem, but at least I had fun with my thesaurus. Where have you been in your life lately? What suffering has befallen you? Thank you so much for reading, my lovely friends and the talented writers I am among! 🤗❤️🙏🏽
About the Creator
Caitlin Charlton
poetry too close to home
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Comments (10)
This is a strong entry to the challenge, Caitlin. The imagery is painfully visceral, I experienced the bite of your words in my mouth, and felt the underlying betrayal in my guts. The pic is the perfect match for the disorientation and sense of a shattered life we experience reading your poem. Very potent and powerful writing! Good luck!
Daahlink Cc - How dramatically pragmatic of you. My elbow is still on the Oxford Dictionary stringing this all together...! U'z do amuse me..! Jj.bud.in.l.a.
Absolutely fantastically written. I frequently use a thesaurs, and rhyming dictionary. They are great tools to enhance your writing, and you clearly used it well. My dog has developed some kind of serious allergy. That's what has been going on around here lately.
You most definitely did enjoy your thesaurus lol. The words here and astounding 😱😱 This is incredible, Caitlin!
Caitlin, this is amazing. This could be a lesson on how to effectively use a thesaurus (I noticed that you mentioned it in your note), and the linguistics resonate everything extremely well. I love that you don't sacrifice sound or meaning for the other, always hit both spot-on.
Great use of the thesaurus! I love your word choices here :-)
I’m so glad this horror is behind you, Caitlin, and you are using poetry as a way to process. I’ve never had anything like that in my life, but I’ve been through psychological abuse. I also worked with DV victims so I have an idea of how badly it can affect your life. Sending strength and healing your way, dear.
That Thesaurus served you well! That very first line made me know I was entering a dark vault. There is a lot to absorb here. Now I need a dictionary! 😂 This smooth and **vivid**. It's 3:33 am when I'm reading this but I'm coming back when I'm not so tired. *So* much to absorb here. Good luck with the challenge! ⚡️💙Bill ⚡️
Omgggg gurl, you really went all out with this poem because I learned soooo many new words from you today! These were my favourite lines: "Am I the wasted hairstyles in the vacuum brush?"
I love your drive to experiment with different words to find those that hit the feelings in stronger ways. This was poetic but with truly uncomfortable deep emotions. I can only imagine what this is about. It feels like a loss of self and identity maybe through a relationship that is not always a good place. Impressive work as ever.