roots

a kidney bean

once became lodged

deep inside

my ear canal

 

and i don’t think

i need to remind you

how a sweet polyp

like that

will sprout roots

among the white axons

grow throughout the squid

and drink in salvation

from the brainpan

 

god knows

i’ve tried what i can

even

turned to the

purgative artillery

strong medicine for sure

but

my throat muscles

only strained and expelled

a bulky stool

so gassy

 

and when

the shaman

sat atop me

with his covey of broken clam shells

scraped the flesh from back of

my neck

wouldn’t you know it

the beast only sneered

from the hole and spat

 

so i guess

i’m resigned now

to co-exist with my friend

and no

as you’ve gathered

it’s not a symbiosis

 

but i’ll get by

Reviews

[NoneOfYourBusiness akaK..]

you've a way to flay away the pc prose of modern woes and reimbue it with the gut wrenching tear stained beauty that it IS even in a condition's degenerative dissolution~ you are like the olden wizards of preRome who wandered lands of Dhawos making magik out of pain and suffering and breathing stunning revelatory gem drops into the wrenching fields of mortality~

[GlendaK]

Actually, I spotted your piece and signed back in to see what a 'skinless frank' would write about...

You know, the human body is miraculous! I was deaf but in time my ear healed itself! Praise God who made every atom!
How are you now?

[jacob erin-cilberto]

the memories are always whispering to us...the good ones, the bad ones...the ear gets full and we just expand it.
clever metaphor here, Frank.
j.

[SkinlessFrank]

Thanks for your thoughts Jacob. Sometimes the ear takes in too much, not so much those little ear-worms that won't leave you alone, but rather the more penetrating types of parasites, if you know what I mean.

[Eilis]

This feels like trauma. Something we have to learn to co-exist with in spite of the desire to leave it behind. I have had a realization more than once—that feeling like it’s me or them (them being the thing inside me I can’t move free from)—and then sunk back into the understanding that it’s a duality I am unlikely to escape. And so often, like the shaman and any other who feels equal to the challenge, those who approach with a mind to manage the anomaly walk away feeling just as lost as me.

It’s a powerful and heavy concept given some levity here. At least that is how it is bouncing off my imagination. Some things are very hard to shake. I do like the way you play around with difficult subjects, so to speak.

[SkinlessFrank]

Thanks. Sometimes it as though we are some species of poorly constructed automaton. We function despite the weight of all the unspeakable and incurable defects we are burdened with and recognize but are helpless to do much about. So we just carry on. I always appreciate your comments. They help me understand what it is I am trying to express.

[Kaylor Mason]

That had to be really painful.

[Chris Shaw]

Definitely had a sci fi feel to it but this poem can be read on different levels. Yes to types of relationships. You also brought a memory back of my three year old sister who stuck a tiny artificial flower up her nose. There is stayed rotting until the smell directed my mother to the doctors. Said stinking flower was removed eventually by a pair of tweezers. Children have a habit of sticking things in strange places. I can,t say I enjoyed the read. It made me wince although you certainly got a reaction and my attention.

[AYVID N]

Oh wow....This is such a true example of a symbiotic relationship. The reality of so many of them. I loved it.

[Ciara]

Once planted, the seed will grow for better or worse. Intriguing write.

[Red Brick Keshner]

Quite scary and fascinating in the one breath. It has features of sci-fi and fantasy all blended into one riveting poem. Thanks for sharing. /Frederick.

[Lisasview]

Love the hidden meaning behind this..
Great use of metaphors..
Interesting story line..
Quite different..and rather weird..
Enjoyed it..
Lisa

[Adeline E. Weathers]

I was slight of every emotion; afraid, disgusted, enamoured and revoked of my own being. I will subscribe and is now a fan, please do more.