my head aches
the artist
& the artisan clash
here, where 1
plans ground cherry jam
the color of honey
to spread this winter over hot bread
baked on a stone
those days oven-heated time
softens like a Dali clock
while the other,
the other hums in a corner
stitches words into ink patchworks.
you can call it poetry. she calls it
sewing oats or sowing
a seamed wholeness
& maybe she will
paint honey on your skin for tasting
but now, not after snow
because love poetry is im-
pa-
tient
& refuses to set
or is it gel–
difficult to know
whether we jar words
or write jams
it’s all in the boil
take the poet
out of the poetry
& the lover out of the poem
what’s left?
last night
i told you about wasabi
& how i like heat
when i am expecting it,
not that first time i saw it
curled against sushi & thought
it was avocado
some mistakes burn
before they teach us
to not trust our eyes
to go deeper
anything’s possible
so look past the obvious
***at Dverse we are toying with the surreal, and with high and low art. Here is my little attempt.
This is what ground cherries look like–not a cherry from a tree!
Susan Daniels Poetry 
I admire your creativity with words very much
Aw, Boomie, thanks! Not my style to go all postmodern, but it was fun. I think I was making it odder while you commented 😉
take that out and you dont got much left….its heart that makes the words sing, be it jelly or jam….i do love some on toast and cherry works for me…but a little honey on skins not a bad thing at all either…smiles.
Smiling back, a little pink on the edges… Thanks, Brian!
Good to see you playing with new forms
Thanks, John.
I like this part ~
it’s all in the boil
take the poet
out of the poetry
& the lover out of the poem
I won’t be writing for sure ~ Nice one ~
Thanks, grace!
Anything’s possible–yes! Great poem all around.
Nico, thanks so very much!
I love love LOVE this Susan. The play on words.. the images and movement. You continue to churn out such great stuff Susan.
Audra, thank you. I really wasn’t sure about this one, if it was edgy postmodern enough, but I had fun…
well i was not reading it as a teacher to critique your work. I just enjoyed the ride as usual with you Susan. It had a good edge to it…. it is different and I just plain old love it
Awww–and I just love you for saying that… You rock, as always, Ms. A!
i actually know a thing about two minds warring in a head 🙂 I liked this. Great , metaphor. Always enjoy your voice.
🙂 thanks, Henry! Yes–can be difficult terrain–that head being battled over.
If you are as good at cooking as you are with words, I’d be impatient too 🙂
Great reply to the prompt Susan.
🙂 thanks so much for the smile!
This is fantastic! I love where you went with the prompt and want to take a moment to say this is all about your exploration as a poet not anyone else’s expectations so you are as ‘postmodern’ as you should be no matter what, you decide how you want to experiment. I’ll sit back and appreciate your artistry and intelligence :D.
Oh, goodness, Anna, thank you! I really enjoyed this experiment.
What you have found in the comparisons between the writer and the jelly maker is a recipe for profound second looks. God bless you! I love:
“the other hums in a corner
stitches words into ink patchworks
you can call it poetry. she calls it
sewing oats . . . ” and
“difficult to know
whether we jar words
or write jams
it’s all in the boil
take the poet
out of the poetry
& the lover out of the poem
what’s left?”
I promise to look again.
I am sorry that I keep forgetting to use the words from your list. Here are good ones for this: debate, consideration, meeting, thesaurus. Please add these words to your list: fire, nourishment, honey, jar, wilderness.
Hahaha–I was waiting for someone to call me on this besides my friend Noel. you are in good company now 😉
Susan, thank you! I really had quite a bit of fun with this. yes, make sure you look twice–wasabi instead of avocado was a violent lesson 😉
Your really working the prompt for this evening! wOw
Aw, thanks, Leah!
nice…love how you mix the different things here…the wasabi made me smile but also a cool life lesson…my fav, fav, fav part was..
to spread this winter over hot bread
baked on a stone
those days oven-heated time
softens like a Dali clock
Aw, thanks, Claudia. Yes, I have forgotten my first plate of sushi, but not the condiments that came with it… Smiles… Life lesson indeed!
Wonderful!
Thanks, Julie!!!
really interesting how you worked your lines here. Very cool use of language and phrase. Really nice response to the prompt.
Thanks so much.
absolutely adore this!
Mohana, thank you! Glad you liked.
Love all the contrasts throughout…
http://lkkolp.wordpress.com/2012/11/02/shadows/
Thank you, Laurie!
Well done Susan – this was a really good one.
Trent–thanks! Had fun with this…
Are you paring down your prolific-ness by the way, or just getting swept up in election stuff?
Hey, Trent–neither–I have bronchitis. Fevers and creativity do not seem to blend well with me. I would much rather be in bed, covering my head with a pillow and cursing anyone who wants me to get out of it than actually write something 😉
Yeah, I’ve done the wasabi/avocado mix-up, too. Not pleasant. Good to keep in mind that things aren’t always as they seem.
Yes! I was laughing at Claudia above calling it a “cool” life lesson. It was anything but a cool sensation at the time 😉
this has a deft clip to it. I loved reading this, Susan and I learned more about how the prompt has appealed to other poets…TY! ‘whether we jar words or write jams’ brilliant~
Oh, thank you, jane. I had fun…
This did it for me. Of all I’ve read so far, I wish I’d written yours the most. (Though they’ve all been really good), but your just W O R K S, all that word play, word change, now you see it, now like a Cheshire cat it’s gone…that’s pretty much genius! WOW.
Wow, Gay–I am so humbled. Thank you!
Good one.
And on a related tangent, I dislike corned beef, won’t go near it… always thought of it as fake ham. Now the jam, mmmm.
🙂 I rarely eat corned beef, kinda freaky, that whole pickled meat thing…
oh i love this, pouring down the page like honey, just fabulous!
Oh, gosh, Kelly, thank you!
My goodness, you killed it Susan! 😀
I am awed at your piece… very surreal!
Oh, thanks so very much!
Susan, I always read your poetry wide-eyed with amazement. 🙂
🙂 This one was kind of out there, a little…thanks for reading through the lunacy!
nicely done susan !
Thank you, Don!