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The faggots sizzle and burn,
like steak on a cornpone stove,
and I am lashed like Abraham's son,
as the cannibals salivate and sing.
I should be a giant pillar of salt,
a condiment statue,
but Godly punishments are too weak
by these men's fine standards.
And besides, not only did I look,
but also play, among the savages.
I have indulged
in the raping of the angels.
So I shall burn with the twin cities,
collapse amidst the wrecked town hall,
see my flesh skip like tumbleweed
across the chalk hopscotch.
Shaved head, white sackcloth,
I feel just like a virgin monk,
too pure for any girl;
I'll let the fire lick my groin.
The timbers are lit, the children dance,
the mayor, from his vantage point,
lifts his head, and blows heaven a kiss,
whilst I peel back, like some scorned love letter.
"We believe that we invent symbols. The truth is that they invent us; we are their creatures, shaped by their hard, defining edges." - Gene Wolfe
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01-01-2011, 04:39 PM
(This post was last modified: 01-01-2011, 05:30 PM by billy.)
the 3rd stanza made me stop for a while, i struggled a little for comprehension, the last 2 lines of it work fine, it's lines 1 and 2 of it that caught me on the hop. (i have no suggestions on how to work it)
othe than the above the piece sort of rocks. it has depth, some great lines.
obviously lots of biblical refs. if i had to make a nit it would be ;
and I am lashed like Abraham's son, i'm not sure if theres a similarity between abes son and what the writer feels he's going through.
both sacrafices i know, but abes was doen of love and duty to god.
other than that an unusal yet good read.
i have indulged
in the raping of angels. lines to move people.
thanks for the read as always heslpoian
jmo.
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The poem was inspired by a story my dad once took peculiar glee in telling me about how homosexuals were burned at the stake years ago; I think I'd asked him where the term "faggot" originated, and he told me it was used to denote sticks of wood, which sometimes were used in the torching of gays.
Thank you for your kind words and feedback, Billy; I know what you mean about the third stanza. When I wrote this months ago I thought it was rather clunky, but couldn't think how to change it. Also true about Abraham's son - the story was meant as a positive affirmation of love, whereas this is about punishment - but again, I can't really think of an alternative line. I might give it some more consideration though.
"We believe that we invent symbols. The truth is that they invent us; we are their creatures, shaped by their hard, defining edges." - Gene Wolfe
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(01-01-2011, 05:21 PM)Heslopian Wrote: The poem was inspired by a story my dad once took peculiar glee in telling me about how homosexuals were burned at the stake years ago; I think I'd asked him where the term "faggot" originated, and he told me it was used to denote sticks of wood, which sometimes were used in the torching of gays.
Thank you for your kind words and feedback, Billy; I know what you mean about the third stanza. When I wrote this months ago I thought it was rather clunky, but couldn't think how to change it. Also true about Abraham's son - the story was meant as a positive affirmation of love, whereas this is about punishment - but again, I can't really think of an alternative line. I might give it some more consideration though.
your dad sounds awsomeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee hehe.
i can remember a faggot being a bunch of straw used for burning (usually wtches i think), a meat ball of kinds and a homosexual. i've never heard it used for the torching of gays
