Poetry Forum

My womb is a-wandering again
The leaves on the floor lie uncrushed
Perfect, an agony of nature.
Branch through a hole in the ceiling
The smell, god the smell of growth
Progress, cells divide mutinously
Wallpaper hangs down like torn skin:
I do not see the ghost of a pattern; maybe it was plain all along.

She lifts up her skirt
Where it doesn’t matter, derelict houses moan
But don’t tell
She shows her sex and it’s pink as any normal girl could tell you
Is right.

Commie (if I may),

A very striking poem. Some parts are hideous, the torn skin for example, but I appreciate that throughout, the poem is grounded in the body.

Some brilliant lines, though. Somebody stop that wandering womb.

Commie (If I may also)

An intriguing poem indeed. Very seedy:

Conjured up images of Back street abortionists, glue sniffing dens, or war torn bomb sites where young girls would flash their "Pink". But that's just me.

As to the meaning (if there is one) I'm lost, but definitely thought provoking.

Good stuff.

A Handmaid's Tale...

Perhaps a bit too vague in places, but piercing and visceral elsewhere...

Most pleasing.

I suppose i thought the title was enough to reveal meaning, 'hysteria' meant 'wandering womb', and was the medical term for all female mental ailments uptil Freud had his twopenneth. General thought was that the womb became detached and wandered around the body wreaking havok on the other organs as it went, causing the physical symptoms often apparent in hysteric patients.

I do read Atwood but im not a great fan. Id say its much more influenced by The Yellow Wallpaper, by Charlotte Perkins Gilman. If you havent read that, do.

thanks for the comments all, my name is Layla but Commie is fine by all accounts.

I'm sure you've heard your fill of Eric Clapton jokes.

oh like you wouldnt believe. Damn hippy parents.

Commie,

I feel your oh so subtle reference may indeed have been lost on more than just me. You're too smart for me, to be sure.

Ah yes...the Yellow Wallpaper. I'd tear my hair out, if I had any...

...but I do see the parallel.

Cheers,

Keith

ah what a friendly board.