In the desert
I saw a creature, naked, bestial,
Who, squatting upon the ground,
Held his heart in his hands,
And ate of it.
I said, “Is it good, friend?”
“It is bitter—bitter,” he answered;
“But I like it
“Because it is bitter,
“And because it is my heart.”
Photo credit: “Description de ce Monstre Unique,” from Bibliothèque Nationale de France, 1784
If you haven’t caught up with The Bees Are Dead lately, now is a good time to do so. B.A.D. featured a particularly potent piece today by Stephen Jarrell Williams, “In the Desert.” It’s a surprisingly effective poem despite its deceptively simple language, and I recommend it highly.
You can also find an outstanding example of prose poetry in Darren C. Demaree’s “Trump as a Fire Without Light #86.” (This is actually one of my favorite poems submitted to B.A.D. so far, and I have no doubt that many readers both here in America and abroad will relate to its poignant social commentary.)
Be sure to peruse Wren Tuatha’s “The Trees Tell Our Future” too. It’s a beautifully evocative poem that has stayed with me long after I read it for the first time.
Eric Robert Nolan, Author 