“There is a human wildness held beneath the skin.”
– Arts, Jim Harrison
is that what war was for? de-stabling the beast berserk in the killing fields weapons spent like water before such thirst is quenched peace meal treaties entreating rules of disengagement eunuch laws that unify the indebted safe-in-their-beds is that how it was with the wild hirsute hunter? the nitty-gritty Neanderthal bloodied, disruptive fire in the belly of the cave snuffed by congenital gatherers supplanted by planters the animals corralled and cowed before the cull is it only along the course of love we're confirmed to run wild? for a mad-cap while passion's permissive permit the pulse of lust lub-lubbing beneath the skin until the consensual conjugation and the birth of tame?
For Linda’s Poetics prompt “Songs of Unreason” she gives us a choice of Harrison quotes as epigraph to set our poetry ball rolling .
I had not remembered writing to this quote before (or looked at it again till now) but back in 2018 Jilly gave us this same prompt but extended….
PoetryPix 
I love where this line has taken you, Laura. The sound elements in the final stanza are wonderful, and the idea of
‘the nitty-gritty Neanderthal
bloodied, disruptive
fire in the belly of the cave’
really got me thinking about how we got to where we did.
many thanks Ingrid for your appreciation and giving thought now from the unspoken premise here
I always think that tameness is a fur coat we wear when it suits us… love where this took you.
nice observation – if only it were so easy to throw off – I see it as skin deep!
I too love where you went with this Laura. Yes, I was longing for those Days of Unreason, hence the prompt. I participated in Jilly’s challenge as well.
I guess that is what this poem kicks against- reason so stifling! (and the one I did in 2018 – could you link up to yours that you did then)
Let me find it! I’m pretty sure I did every day.
Here it is: https://charmedchaos.com/2018/06/26/mind-trap/
“the taste of freedom drips onto
our dry thirsty tongue”
I love it Linda – and so would Harrison!
Thank you Laura!
“is it only along the course of love we’re confirmed to run wild?” Yes, I believe so my dearest Laura 💝💝 this poem is incredibly hard-hitting and does so on so many levels! Stunning work done. 🙂
I thought you might agree with that Sanaa (given your own poem to this quote) and thank you for such high praise
A question framed with wonderfully arresting lines – and leaves me wondering …
thanks for being arrested!
☺️
…………….eunuch laws that unify
the indebted safe-in-their-beds………..indeed….but what stunning way to announce it…I was carried along, lke one does if sitting on a magic carpet, really participating fully, aas a reader, annd then your last stanza tumbled in……just so well expressed…..such real, valid philosophy, pulling us along, disguised as poetry, and yet saying so much….
am so grateful for your magic carpet ride Ain – and the time you take to offer such constructive feedback
In reading you can almost feel an edge of insanity, frantically wondering if love will actually come out of it all, whatever or whoever they are waiting for.
yes the edge of insanity is there but more so in the first time I wrote to this quote back in 2018 (discovered only after reading it yesterday) – see an uneasy trio
If only it were “only along the course of love,” and not at the random times it’s seen.
that’s why the poem deliberately avoids the adjective “true”!
I admire your interpretation of this line – beyond the love and lust, but also thrill of war and the hunting. Next comes the taming and the cowing – really conforming to life around us. Food for thought!
thank you Grace for reading the message – Harrison’s line struck a chord in these current times
That is an epic question, Laura. This poem sings truth.
❤
David
truth be told, the answers are not always welcome!
I do wonder at those profound questions you ask. They are questions which nobody has yet truly answered, I think.. 🙂
so true and perhaps no one dare!
Indeed 🙂
I could feel the wild streak throughout this, Laura, especially in the second stanza, which for me is the belly of the poem. I love that the line “fire in the belly of the cave” is in the very centre 🙂
thank you for your feedback – you have gone to the nub of the poem!
You’re most welcome 😊
Poetry that forces the reader to dig deep, really think about what the writer is sharing … my favorite. Yours did just that, Laura. Thank you.
that is such useful feedback Helen – thank you for this
That is indeed terrific. One of your best.