Skip to main content Help Control Panel

Shakespeare's Monkeys

Infinite Monkeys. Infinite Typewriters.

More in desire

desire

  Next >>

To me this almost seems two seperate poems at first, but after thinking about it, I realize that it's not at all.

in fields of bright colours 
I wrote

a blush of wings in snow 
my thoughts are accidentally    
peppered red  
muffled  
ducks encased in icy steaming water 
no less solid, but   
undefined 

I fear
what  I desire most 
each night a dream of  rescue 
my face distorted 
a life lived 
asleep

The strong winter, dark ominous cold of the first, offers such atmosphere and enhances the dream motif so significantly, I can't see how it would work seperated, except perhaps as 'parts 1. and 2.' but even then i dont' know that that much of a logical break would work. I am quite taken by the  use of the double meaning and line-breaks to force both meanings there at the end, and then the clincher which, while certainly not a unique thought, is laid out neatly and cleanly and honestly.  I suppose in L4 you could remove the 'are' .. and possibly even make accidentally a parenthetical. I liked the play of muffled both on the thoughts and the duck. I think that works rather brilliantly. As a resident of the cold regions, I'm so familiar with the 'icy steaming water' with it's sweet little internal paradox climbing neatly in one moment through the entire water cycle.

by Anstey on Feb. 28 2008