Scarabaeus sacer
Hard
& round
& shiny as
a sex toy,
studded collar
biting into
the dirt,
the translucent
hum of
his wings
folded away,
the six-
legged god
plods backwards,
wheeling his
little world
of shit.
* * *
I first posted this one back in 2007, and am reposting it with a new title because it seems a natural addition to my Bestiary series (which I do plan to get back to once my current wildflower obsession wanes a little). I’ve spent all day going through the Via Negativa poetry archives, turning up a few forgotten gems but also becoming more than a bit nauseated at having to re-think so many of my own stale thoughts at one sitting.
OTHER POSTS IN THE SERIES
I love this one.
Know the feeling about re-visiting, re-thinking old work, old thoughts but on a rainy day like today doing it, I’ll hit the pillow tired but in a good tired kind of way… pleased that I’ve learned something new since I last visited them. : ) Hope you do, too.
Yes, such nausea is probably actually helpful: it tells me where I need to be more inventive, and stop using the same tricks and coming to the same conclusions.
Great that you’ve re-discovered this little gem for the Bestiary. I too will be getting down to this project in earnest once the more pressing deadlines of the forthcoming exhibition and publications have passed. You’ve set me some very entertaining challenges with what you’ve produced so far, and I’m excited at the prospect of meeting them head on!
I can’t wait to see what you come up with, Clive! Such reverse ekphrasis will be novel for me.
Glad you brought this one out, though I regret the nausea. It’s a little gem (ahem).
Hard and round and shiny, yes. Thanks!
Leaving you a test comment, having looked up “shit” and am delighted to find a number of returns.
You & your blog are decidedly not shit, even though you hash it on occasion.
Hope the new plugin loosens everything to your satisfaction. :-)
Thanks, Deb! Creative search term. Now if WordPress would just come up with a new search function that wasn’t utter shit, things would be damn near perfect.