Indigenous

by Poet on the Piano   Oct 19, 2012


She was my Australian doll,
compromising for silence
and naked stone bellies
rather than to have her flesh
be colored in lustful American
paints.

Her bones were bare
so that the red bird could
nest among what lacked
constitution.

Flowerets were crocheted
'neath her underarms,
splicing hunger until
lines like feathers plaited
across the whole skin
of her canvas.

Dark ink quivered, the very
mouth of the red bird who
delivered words netted with
synthetic song.

Her breasts grew from
weeds, stems impossible
to trace and she became
home for the vanished.

I gazed at her,
and never stepped out
of another balcony again.
This stillness she goes with
is how I learned true art.

And the red bird writes...

* written for club challenge

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Latest Comments

  • 12 years ago

    by Darren

    Indigenous...native born

    about time I had another look at one of yours,
    I have absolutely no idea what this is about, however i have read it four times now,
    I thought it may be a statue, rather than a doll or a discarded toy left to rot amongst the weeds.
    I will take my statue theory, (probably looking too deep again though)
    First of all who is the red bird? Red is the colour of the devil or anger, maybe this is just symbolic for change, a poem about meddling in society, trying to change peoples perceptions, heritage.

    you almost seem to be having a dig at america, but I feel it was a message about commercialisation, the must have it now culture. I like how the doll is kept simple, you point to nature as helping her appearance rather than man made.

    So my feelings are this (after another read)

    This could be a message about spoiling what is pure, either children or nature, we are influenced by so many things that sometimes we do not stop and take the time to appreciate true beauty, true art.

    Life is art, nature practices art daily, with the paintings in the sky using clouds to the way trees and flowers grow.

    I amy be wrong, but this is what I get from this.

    • 12 years ago

      by Poet on the Piano

      It's neat you got so much out of the poem, Darren! I honestly just wrote about a piece of artwork, how life is art, even in stillness, nature watches over and can bring messages not brought from man. And you're right about seeing the meaning of true art, stopping for a minute to understand. I loved your deeper thoughts on this--- thank you for reading and I love your perspective on it :)

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