Poetry Friday

As tomorrow is Valentine’s Day, and as my Valentine is a passionate cook who loves his aromatics, I dedicate this poem by Carol Ann Duffy to him.

Valentine
Not a red rose or a satin heart.

I give you an onion.
It is a moon wrapped in brown paper.
It promises light
like the careful
undressing of love.

Here.
It will blind you with tears
like a lover.
It will make your reflection
a wobbling photo of grief.

I am trying to be truthful.

Not a cute card or a kissogram.

I give you an onion.
Its fierce kiss will stay on your lips,
possessive and faithful
as we are,
for as long as we are.

Take it.
Its platinum loops shrink to a wedding-ring,
if you like.

Lethal.
Its scent will cling to your fingers,
cling to your knife.

Comments

Christina said…
Oooh, I like it! Nice entry, LB. You could link it to the rest of the Poetry Friday posts today that are at Big A little a today, if you want. I chose some lines by Whitman today.
February 13, 2009 at 9:58 AM
Lynne said…
Thanks, Fiddler - love the Whitman.

I was wondering about intellectual property and the legality of posting poems on blogs. I know this comes too late, but I thought of it when posting the "How to Paint a Donkey" and then again today. Have you come across any information regarding this topic in your Poetry Friday shindigs?
February 13, 2009 at 10:59 AM
Christina said…
If a poem is still under copyright, then it's considered proper to post a few lines and then a link to the poem at a site that has permission to print the whole thing, such as poets.org or a similar site. Figuring out if a poem is still under copyright is trickier. I do my best to check around when posting a poem by a poet who died right around the cut-off point (1922, IIRC), and there is always the possibility that the poet's estate has renewed the copyright, so, well, I just check the best I can. Helpful, eh?
February 13, 2009 at 11:05 AM
Lynne said…
That is helpful. I should just stick with the long-dead poets society.

I can probably do that.
February 13, 2009 at 11:20 AM
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