As June winds down, how about a “moon” poem for our resuscitated Weekly Poem series? This one is by a long-time favorite poet, Mina Loy.
No one knows the date of composition for “Moreover, the Moon—”; it is known that the poem wasn’t published in Mina Loy's lifetime. It certainly is immediately recognizable as a Loy poem—the short lines combining with a rather dense linguistic surface, the singular mix of abstract & sensual language. The poem certainly captures a certain “moon madness” in its fifteen lines.
Hope you enjoy it.
Moreover, the Moon—
Face of the skies
preside
over our wonder.
Fluorescent
truant of heaven
draw us under.
Silver, circular corpse
your decease
infects us with unendurable ease,
touching nerve-terminals
to thermal icicles
Coercive as coma, frail as bloom
innuendoes of your inverse dawn
suffuse the self;
our every corpuscle become an elf.
Mina Loy
Wow, what a poem. Love the portrait of her, too.
ReplyDeleteDo you read Val at Monkeys on the Roof? She wrote about the moon today too. Really different kind of post, though.
Hope your weekend is very fine, John.
Hi Reya:
ReplyDeleteI'll check it out-- great title! Glad you liked the poem-- Loy was a very striking woman I think.
Even tho I know the weekend isn't your "weekend" hope you have a good one too.
That's an interesting, and slightly jarring, change that happens partway through the poem. Most of the poem is descriptive(I love "innuendoes of your inverse dawn") - but the beginning is more like a prayer of adoration. I like it more with every reading.
ReplyDeleteHi Sandra: Yes, there is a shift. Loy's writing often is jarring, but almost always in a way that overall enhances the poem. Glad you like it!
ReplyDeleteI found this piece really quirky. It doesn make me want to read more of Loy and I do agree with Sandra, that this particular piece really opens up when you reread it.
ReplyDeleteKat
Hi Kat:
ReplyDeleteGlad you find her interesting. I love her poetry, but I know Mina Loy isn't everyone's cup of tea.