Tuesday, April 08, 2008

Eucalyptus Daphne



The god? I would have let him catch me, but
I saw this tree.
Such bark.
So vivid, like
a rainbow run quite mad, a lightning strike
on polished wood. I touched the seam that juts
rough like a beard from scarlet-satin trunk.
It snagged my hands, my lips. A hard embrace,
the smooth caress of wood against my face.
Apollo was forgotten; I stood drunk
and wrapped in ruby veils, red as the wine.
We burned with scorchless fire. I wept to merge
myself with eucalyptus trunk. The urge
to claim this arbor beauty, make it mine!
The bark peeled open to my parted lips
and so I fell into the eucalypt.

Original images:
eucalyptus bark, torso and hands, head

Collection available! Knocking from Inside

15 comments:

Admin said...

this is lovely and so fantastical! j'adore!

Crafty Green Poet said...

very vivid! I like the rainbow run mad

Anonymous said...

beautiful.....

Stan Ski said...

All that glistens?...But the attraction is clear to see

Tumblewords: said...

Superb - Vivid imagery!

Linda Jacobs said...

I like those short lines at the beginning. They give it a playful feel sort of like hide and seek. Cool!

Anonymous said...

well-written, interesting interpretation of Daphne turning into a laurel. Very sensuous.

Cynthia said...

A beauty this one, a wild,
sensual myth. Love!

Anonymous said...

love the rhyming couplet--what a kick!

great vivid images throughout, very sensual

Donald Harbour said...

Aisha, this is not only a homage to love but to the eucalypt. If they could feel, all 700 species would applaud you for this fine verse.
Regards,
DH

Anonymous said...

from Therese L. Broderick -- As Linda's comment noticed: the shortest lines at the beginning of the poem achieve a special effect. They relay to the reader the speaker's sudden struck-by-love, entrancement, with the tree. Those short lines comprise, together, the second line of the sonnet. A skillful modification of the sonnet form. Well-done.

Anonymous said...

This does a great job of reinventing the myth and plying it towards your own vision of love and nature. I like the sonnet-like shape of the poem and how it creates confines like the two-sided prison of the tree.

Unknown said...

I enjoyed the beautiful story of Daphne and the tree and how they became one. I enjoyed the way you crafted the sonnet format into a richly colored tale. The imagery is striking. thanks for sharing this, Aisha!

Anonymous said...

I would have let him catch me, but
I saw this tree.

Your entry here sets such a tone! Then enters to a wildness of heart and raw sight, and all beautifully embraced. As any lover could wish to be, faithfully.
Thank you for this poem very much!

Anonymous said...

I was so caught up in the images that I missed the form altogether. The rhymes work so naturally that they only add music. I love the way the opening works.