Tuesday, May 7, 2013
"Sonnetto for Furious Nursing Baby"
I can't resist putting this poem in my blog. It is scrupulously observed, and the language is perfectly attuned to its subject.
Frothy and pink as a rabid pig, you-
a mauler - a lunatic, stricken with
a madness induced by flesh - squeeze my skin
until blotched, nicked. Your fingernails
are jagged and mouth-slick. Pinprick scabs jewel
my breasts. Your tongue, your wisest muscle,
is the wet engine of discontent.
It self-fastens by a purse-bead of spit
while your elegant hands flail, conducting
orchestral milk, and sometimes prime the pump.
Nipple in mouth, nipple in hand, you have
your cake and eat it too. Then when wrenched
loose, you’ll eat sorrow, loss - one flexed hand twists,
as you open your mouth to eat your fist.
by Julianna Baggott
appeared in Alhambra Poetry Calendar 2010
Selected by Shafiq Naz
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dear don:
ReplyDeleteyou inspire me with your determination of daily words etc. i feel a failure for not being more diligent in my own musings. the poem you have selected is so much fun. when my own precious jewels were screaming with decibel levels loud enough to pierce my eardrums, i never once thought a sonnet, poem, song, psalm or anything of beauty to define the sound i miss so very much, now as a grandmother. ah, such is the ignorance of youth. you brought good memories to this weary mind. i love you.