Urban Growth

[camus]

I

it roars fierce yellow
through the cracks -

acts ruderal, its inner
bracts: erect, intact

till pollinated, then
dies the beautiful death;

the Dandy Lion.

II

copious on fields that are
crossed to find drugs and
sex, the buttercup:
hold it close beneath the chin
should you find yourself
in-shake and yellowing, a stuttered
lover, a qui gon gin.

III

spined-caged-headless trunks
are protected from themselves
should they take root and blossom,
then make love to the neighbourhood.

[hoot]

This poem is evocative & challenging and, for me, that means it is right at the heart of what poetry should be about - finding new images and associations to increase our understanding of the world.
First off, I see that the three stanzas are numbered so may be only loosely linked, yet there is a definite connection between all of them - a strange and subtle blend of beauty/nature and shock/violence. The title, Urban Growth, anchors it back from the (sometimes) difficult references of the metaphors and let's me know that meanings are certainly intended to be drawn on two levels.
What goes on in the plant world, the yellow of the dandelion (personified as Dandy Lion), with its bracts, pollinated and beautiful in I, the buttercup of II, and the blossom in III, is contrasted starkly and knowingly with images of rapaciousness/unnaturalness in the world of man: the fierce, the ruderal, the erect, the drugs and sex, the gin (= trap) and, startlingly, the spined-caged-headless trunks of the concluding stanza. This combination paints a disturbing picture that is all the more powerful for its fragility.
Yellow is not only attractive; by II it has transmuted to decay, and by III we really might be looking with one eye at gruesome murders on the heath, or at least death by total desensitisation, in the greenbelt, and in the "urban growth".
Throughout the poem, the force of the words is enhanced by the rhythm, urgent and clipped, and sound effects like the acts/ects sequence in I and the ch/g thread in II which starts with chin.
The third stanza suggests that we are all protected from ourselves for fear of taking root and blossoming - into a neighbourly society? The irony of this bold allusion echoes Eliot's masterpiece, The Waste Land.

[camus]

hoot,

Firstly Welcome, secondly thank you for your positive feedback and obvious poetic insight, I can't say i'll be able to reciprocate with such a keen eye (in fact i know I won't) , but I look forward to reading your poetry.

cheers
Kris

[k-j]

This is excellent - the "Dandy Lion" especially; every line a gem. "Ruderal" is that rare thing, a word both new and useful to me.

The buttercup is good too, though I'd have "under" instead of "'neath".

Couldn't figure out the last one. Why not include the name to save my head-scratching? "spine-caged-headless trunks" is good though.

Top stuff.

[juliadebeauvoir]

acts ruderal, its inner
bracts: erect, intact

till pollinated, then
dies the beautiful death;

Very sensual poem with a stark contrasting theme. "Dies the beautiful death" is lovely.
The little, inane buttercup transforms into a drug induced jaundice--nice on a 'stuttered lover'.
I got a little lost on "spined-caged-headless trunks"--what are these? Just old stumps? Like the possibility that if allowed to grow would 'make love to the neighborhood.'
Those things which do grow are brutally passed over by the ugliness of urban growth--and those that cannot grow have all the possibilities of being prolific.
Excellent stuff.

Kim

[ccvulture]

Another fractious offering which demonstrates the soft and harsh sides of your Grimbocious soul, sir.

Cheers

Stuart

[barrie]

The first verse is really good - I like the change from the French dandelion to the more 'powdered wig' sounding Dandy Lion - If I were a psychologist I would accuse you of frankophobia. You seem to present the flower as a personification of Sir Percy Blakeney, the aristocrastic fop and dandy who is really the scourge of the French, a real Dandy Lion. I'd better stop here because it could get sillier. No, really, it's a great opening verse.
I agree with k-j about 'neath' - sounds out of place (that's Pimpernel talk), I'd go for below. I had to look up qui gon gin - I never followed Star Wars so that bit's lost on me.
And so on to spined-caged-headless trunks - What are they? At first I thought of dandelions again, headless trunks that remain after the seeds have been blown away - but they're already rooted. Then I thought of tower blocks, headless (flat roofed)....still couldn't make it fit - maybe it's just scrap that's been dumped. Because I couldn't figure out anything definite for the first line, the rest of the verse, although a fine sounding description of whatever line one is supposed to be, just fell away as I had nothing to link it to. Maybe we need more of a clue as to what these spined-caged-headless trunks are.

good stuff

cheers

Barrie

[beautifulloser]

Kris,

Up to your usual high standard Sir, great use of language and as others commented some useful new ones for the old vocab. which is always a treat.

Qui Gon Gin, I wasn't too sure on either but I gather it's a pun (as it's spelt incorrectly) on what preceeded with the drugs and all that. In shake and yellowing, a stuttered lover - a sick alcolohic, a social outcast in the swarms of people doing what they do daily - there's lots of twists and turns in this to interpret which make for a really great read Kris - nicely done, Sir.

All I know of QGG is that he's the most powerful Jedi, and a bit of maverick, which suits II really well, I thought.

The last stanza is my favourite - I gather we're talking thorns/nettles? It works really well in regards to having certain undesirables in the neighbourhood (ASBO dudes and all that), spined, caged and headless is great, the title is excellent too and just all works well, each read you get something new from it, another angle or certain thing to focus on given the context and the title, I could go on and on but it'd be all interpretive arm flapping.

Nothing constructive aside I'm afraid - neath/below/under all the same to me. You could say, perhaps: Held close beneath the chin, rather than hold it - but then there's the tense thing . . . . just a thought.

Great stuff

Beau
x

[camus]

Thanks for the feedback guys, all good stuff.

I'll make a couple of recommended changes.

RE the spined-caged-headless trunks Kim was on the right lines. Basically I was alluding to those new trees (shrubs, seedlings?) you often find on estates that are undergoing "rejuvenation" caged off to protect them. I took the approach they were being protected from themselves and their potential beauty, as opposed to being protected from the little fuckwits who could possibly defile them.

It's a tree hugging thing.

cheers
Kris

[David]

It's a bit flowery, innit? No, I like it, of course I do. Dent de lion, I thought. It's a diuretic, you know. It could die a timely death, I suppose, but it is a beautiful death as well. A wispy death?

I think the third verse belongs in a different poem. I'd like another flower to finish off. Another yellow one. The Lesser Celandine? It's been done before.

Always good to see you posting, Kris, and at such an early hour, too! Always good stuff.

Cheers

David

[redpond]

Hi Camus,

Like William Carlos Williams’ Asphodel , That Greeny Flower, because of your poem, I will
remember dandelions as the firece ruderal. By the way what is “a qui gon gin.” I know
there is a star war character named Qui-gon Jin, but it can’t be.... help! Oh, I got it. Is it a brand name for gin??

-keepitflowing
Redpond