Grapes of Putrescence
for "The Sonnet of Shadows" challenge #1
They once gleamed with velvet in the sun,
indigo skin aglow with carmine flame;
the air was drunk as sweetness just begun,
beauty sculpted slowly as decay came.
.
But time, with bruising hand, is here to claim
what once belonged to life, adorned in vivid flesh;
silken worms and lustrous flies now join the game,
as fragrance ripe with rot calls them to the catch.
.
O fruit, that teaches love: what once was ripe and fresh
can be the ruin for us all like sour wine;
in each bite the ghost of pleasure leaves caress
to show that even in decay, beauty is divine.
.
For only when you fall, and sweetness spills,
does the tongue learn how desire ripens, and kills.
This poem was born as the result of my attempt to write a sonnet to "The Sonnet of Shadows" challenge.
I decided to go with the Spencerian sonnet with the rhyme scheme of abab bcbcb cdcd ee. Which I don't know how much I nailed because my mind goes blank whenever I try to find rhyming words. (Don't even think of expecting a iambic pentameter from me in English... It wasn't mentioned in the prompt anyway...)
My muse was a bunch of grapes I forgot on a rock once in the forest at work, and the next day I found it half rotten, covered in sticky juice, flies and worms. Yet, somehow there was still something beautiful in it. (IKR? My mom says I am a bit morbid sometimes.)
It might sound grotesque, but the idea to write about it came when the other day we passed by a corpse of a deer that was hit by a car, and just left there by the road. It reminded me of one of my favorite poems, The Carcass by Baudelaire.
For the title, I choose my old poetry tumblr blog's name.
I never liked sonnets because most of what we read at school were cheesy, all about love but after doing some research I figured people wrote all kinds of creepy, dark and disturbing sonnets. So why not?
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Comments (21)
Congratulations on your win! Well-done poem and I enjoyed your author's note too!
This is a brilliant sonnet, Imola. It was all wonderful and you seriously rocked the 2 closing lines! Congratulations.
Super congrats to you, Imola! Outrageously great work on this one! So happy for you!
Thought I had said the thing. Congrats on a stunning entry and stunning winner placement, Imola. You sould be proud! I know I am!
Returning to congratulate you on your win, Imola!🥳👏❤
Such a well deserved win! This is hauntingly gorgeous!
Wooohooooo congratulations on your win! 🎉💖🎊🎉💖🎊
Masterful, visceral, brilliant!! This is rich, feeling-provoking work, Imola, congratulations on a well-deserved win!
Back to say, Imola the Poetess. Award-Winning again. And with your first entry for this challenge - stunning work my friend - congrats!
well deserved win, powerful verbal imagery in this poem. Word choice perfectly highlighted the contradictions between extremes. Word choice throughout was flawless.
🎉🎉🎉Congratulations on your win, Gurl! 🤗♥️🖤🎉🎉🎉
Congratulations on your win, Imola 🌹
A striking meditation on transformation and impermanence. You’ve turned rot into revelation, evoking Baudelaire’s spirit with elegance and restraint.
I love where the inspiration for this came from! You nailed this sonnet, the dark, grotesque, creepy is right up my alley. I can understand finding the beauty in rotting things. I often find beauty in things people usually fear, but to be in awe of the power of nature is a sacred gift! <3
It's insane. It seems like our minds are linking. I just published a sonnet using the word 'Carmine' and here it is like it's following me. I love that this poem is built on the velvet skin of a grape. 'decay came' will never stop loving this pairing. Wow. The second quatrain shows how close you are to the life of a grape. That you watch when the flies come. Very deep. How you pulled meaning from when grapes turn to ripe. To arrive at a thought as profound as, decay bringing beauty divine. Damn. Those last two lines. They remind us of the damage done to us. Yet it's so beautiful in the way it was spoken to be written. Outstanding. I am far above and beyond impressed, this is how it's done! 🤗❤️
Why not indeed? It kind of feels like one of those gloomy still life paintings - still, yes, but alive with life and death.
Creepy, dark, and disturbing are my cup of tea hehehehehhee. I had a sudden hankering last night for grapes. It was so out of the blue and now I feel it was a foreshadowing of your poem. I suck at rhyming, so to me you nailed this. Loved your poem!
I agree, LOL, the sonnets we learned in school were very cheesy. I find it quite fascinating what inspired this piece, and I am glad you shared that with us. I enjoyed your sonnet and this part is my favorite: "in each bite the ghost of pleasure leaves caress to show that even in decay, beauty is divine."
You write what you know. One must write to learn how and writing whatever takes practice. To me I am a free verse, haiku and acrostic writer. You are so right about what we read in school. Good job.
Wow, this is beautifully macabre.
I agree with the sonnets and love thing. Also, as a fan of Shakespeare, I felt that shadow over me, even trying to approach anything to do with love, and knowing I'd never top the Bard. That's why for my first attempt, I took a decidedly Paul take and for the second one tightened it and managed a trad one without writing with a different voice. This was stunning and evocative, as we discussed before. I find beauty in decay and can imagine feeling the same way if I had seen the deer or the grapes. I told you, I believe about the fox I saw, that over the course of a few days in the Braes near our house, it died by the side of the path and just decomposed and was eaten gradually. It was beautiful, horrifying, and fascinating all at once. Loved this poem so much, and there, babbling gauntlet has been laid before your feet, Imola!