09-19-2017, 10:16 PM
(09-19-2017, 02:05 PM)Leanne Wrote: she wears the holes of crucifixionA very fine image, though I tripped over "bile" - it certainly fits by sound and sight, but not quite as something I picture a buzzard pecking for. Though it must exist, in some quantity, in carrion.
from the years spent standing in place of a cock
at the mercy of the winds that swirled across the steeple
now fallen, her wings are torn from her back
and her breast is exposed from behind
so her traitor heart can pump its last
into the filth upon which this church perches
like an aged buzzard
too blind to do more than peck feebly for bile
beneath her hand, the shards of a once-sealed jar
stab at her skin, and within its shattered curve
is a single white feather
Appreciated most without trying for symbolism - fallen angel, church built on filth, then I blunder off on a tangent with the white feather of cowardice. So in my unimaginative/uninformed reading it works best on its own terms, anthropomorphizing only to the extent that the weathervane has skin, blood, and a heart capable of treason.
Liked it very much! Thank you for posting.
Non-practicing atheist

