‘Struggle and Treachery’ Action 2/4: Transformations Poems (Book 7)

24 Sep

TRANSFORMATIONS

George Braque Metamorphoses

February 2013-March 2014

17 poets, 15 months, creating 1 contemporary reworking of Ovid’s Metamorphoses

See the Transformations Page for more details or the ‘Present Collaborations’ Tab

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Poems Inspired by Book 7

>>Featuring:

Kate Garrett and Eleanor Perry

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Maybe Medea*

by Kate Garrett

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I stand at the far

edge of the fields,

beyond the patch

of cornstalks, facing

the hedgerow and scents

of honeysuckle blooms,

crushed sassafras leaves.

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She waits there,

mother of crossroads,

beneath the darkest

sky. She asks if I

would bathe in, or drink

them: fresh milk, sweet

honey, sheep’s blood.

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She knows my auntie

shows men their true

form, lets them roll

like pigs around her feet,

offers plenty of mud,

and scraps to keep

them happy.

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She also knows it’s not

enough for me. I need

their lives. They owe

me their salvation

and destruction alike.

But all the same, auntie

taught me well, and my

dark crone understands.

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I slit the bleating throat

as my lady asked, mix

the claret flow with white

and gold. She sends the chariot,

drawn by dragons. Or

are they men? I’m laughing,

skin splashed with red,

as they drive me away.

 

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Maybe Aurora (Red Sky at Morning)

by Kate Garrett

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Look. The sky,  the sunrise,

and all for you. Why don’t

you want it? Bright scarlet,

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like a passion, a tantrum,

your heart, and the hole

In her chest. Just wait;

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wait for another dawn, a lot

like this one. Go. Wait. And

don’t say I didn’t warn you.

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Myrmidon.

by Eleanor Perry

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myrmidon by Nell Perry Book 7 JPG

 

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* =One of the poems to be included in our ‘Transformations’ Exhibition/Poetry reading September 2014, Hanse House, King’s Lynn, Norfolk

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You can find out more about Kate and Nell here: 

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