Monday, April 27, 2009

Monday Poetry - Great & Terrible Worm

The Great and Terrible Worm

When she was just a child
The Great and Terrible Worm
Slithered its way past the veils
Of innocently dreamt nightmares,
Wrapping her in bitter coils
“Love me, Trust me – for you belong to me”
It hissed in a voice too dark
For a child to hear;
Then embraced her crushingly tight
Breaking all the tiny fragile things
That would rattle broken inside her
For the rest of her life.

When she was still a tender girl
The Great and Terrible Worm
Found her once again,
In a symphony of pitious screams
As it ran her to ground
“Love me, Trust me – For I’ll take what is mine”
It warned with eyes glittering
cold and unfeeling;
As it trapped her in the darkest shadows
Consumed what she refused to freely give
Ripping new holes inside her
That would forever bleed as tears.

When she was a young woman
The Great and Terrible Worm
Polished and painted its scales
Shining with unearthly beauty,
Then curled itself around and in her
“Love me, Trust me – give your heart to me”
It crooned in breathy whispers
Seducing away her fears;
As it drank and ate and feasted
Until fully sated,
Plucking out her heart
Before slithering on its way.

When she was a woman grown
The Great and Terrible Worm
Laid itself in worship at her feet
Worming its way past her shields
With pretty words and promises
“Love me, Trust me – share your soul with me”
It sang in a voice
Too sweet to be denied,
With a kiss full of poison
That she drank greedily with eyes nearly blind
Until the bones beneath them cut her
And she saw the truth between the lies.

When she was an old, old woman
The Great and Terrible Worm
Tried to catch her one last time
But lackluster scales slid from her
Unable to capture and keep her,
“Love me, Trust me – don’t leave me alone”
It cried in hollow echoes
Rising up for once to meet her eyes,
Eyes that reflected the sacred bones
That rattled around her deep inside,
Eyes that were filled with scornful pity
Before she closed him forever from her sight.

13 comments:

arkay said...

wow. just wow.

Gadfly said...

FUCK!!

O_O

Lakota said...

Is that a good Wow or a bad Wow Rob bunny? :D xxxx

Gaddy, i know it needs some work still but surely it didn't stink THAT bad!!! o.O

Karl said...

Good Afternoon Lakota,

It saddens me, to think of one with such a fine mind being treated so poorly as to have the feel sentiment expressed in your poem. Well written.

Julia Phillips Smith said...

I love the character of The Great and Terrible Worm, how you've named it, how it repeats in the woman's life.

arkay said...

uh, overwhelmed wow?

reeeeeellllly good piece of poetry your Goddessness. Powerful, deep, incredibly impactful imagery, pace, tone and an (uncomfortable) sense of hurt (and hopelessness?) expressed. Really effing amazing, really. Wow.

bobby said...

I read it and re-read it and re-read it again. Each time it brought different thoughts and emotions to mind, very thought provoking and very revealing. Really very good. xxx

Anonymous said...

P.S...... BOO!
And yes, it is me this time. lol.

Lakota said...

LMAO! You crack me up Anil! :D

I'm so glad you liked it Bobby and strange and it may sound, the poem does the same thing to me too. I think it is a work in progress because every time i read it, i read some new nuance in it and end up tweaking it. It almost reminds me more of a fable than a poem.

Thanks Rob - that was part of what i was trying to convey so i'm very happy that you picked up on that.

Thanks Julia - i think you liked it when you first read it a few years ago too - and it does have some minor changes in it now. And oh yeah - i forgot i have to sign up on the train. ooops.

i'm glad you enjoyed it Karl my dear friend! it is one of those poems i think is relevant to far too many women and their relationships. I think the ending kicks ass though. heehee!

Susan Helene Gottfried said...

Whoa. There's a ton going on in here, a lot of subtext.

If I taught high school English, I'd add this to my poetry offerings.

Anonymous said...

The Great And Terrible Worm?

Is this like, you know, like a metaphor for like, a penis?
And like, all that related herpetological allusion - jaysus it just don't get any more reptant than that.
Now my great Komodo Dragon penis joke - a real thigh-slapper I might add - is malapropos!

Bitch!

Gadfly said...

No, that was just gut-wrenchingly dark if you read into it the way I did O_O

Josh said...

AMAZING, I really liked this. Of course I've always had a thing for more, er... pessimistic-sounding things, but ya know.