Once bitten, twice shy

Published on by Laura Bloomsbury

Life is for the daimons and the demons
those that put honey on your lips and those that put salt.
D. H. Lawrence.

Small, prettily packaged
as a sphere. Sulphur yellow 
pushing through blush pink
like the eye of a snake

Fascinator fashioned as fruit
just within reach.
Scrumptiously scrumped!
You held it outstretched;
an orb, gilt with pomp
and glory and pride

Daring to bare
wanting to taste
forbidden
to know why not
to seek what lies beyond
permission

Ah yes, how crisply sweet
permissive is
esters so astringent
my eyes narrowed
in unfamiliar ecstasy

And then that aftertaste;
acrid as sulphur
bitter like wormwood
a murderous manchineel

I throw your apple down
flyblown
turning brown
  • title is an English proverb
  • ‘scrump’ old fashioned English: ‘to steal fruit’; scrumptious – delicious taste
  • manchineel: toxic fruit resembling an apple from Florida & S. America

For Dora’s Poetics prompt: Reimagining the Familiar I’m reframing the Temptation story

36 thoughts on “Once bitten, twice shy”

  1. A bitter disappointment, mistaking the false for the true. Laura, this works on so many levels that the literal surprised me no end. Loved it!

  2. The opening stanza is such a hook! The poem really drew me in with the image; “Ah, yes how crisply sweet..”.. a stellar response to the prompt, Laura 💜💜

  5. the only thing worse tha finding a maggot in your apple is finding half a maggot.

    lovely poem

  7. Stunned…everything, the theme, layered complexity as I discovered what lay behind the words, the thankful discarding, again, of any notion of ponderous rhyme. I ate this verse with avarice.

      1. A tiny revolution is happening within for me, to cast at last (heh heh) the utter silliness of rhyming words yonder. Seriously, have been greatly influenced by you + regarding this of late, ta.

  9. You went with apples too, Laura, and the temptation story! Your title reminded me of Heaney’s poem ‘Twice Shy’, a favourite of mine. The descriptive detail in the opening stanza is so evocative; I love the phrase ‘scrumptiously scrumped’, and how you captured disappointment in the aftertaste: ‘bitter like wormwood / a murderous manchineel’ and the repetition of ‘ow’ in the end rhymes in the final stanza.

  10. Your title is also the name of a song by Mott the Hoople. Leave it to me to be awkward!

    I love your poem, especially that second stanza. I don’t believe I have ever seen a fascinator referenced in a poem before, and yet it’s the perfect choice here. BTW, my Machado collection arrived today. It’s a big doorstop of a book with Spanish on the left page and English on the right. It should be a feast, and I thank you for the Introduction.

    1. thank you Shay for your lovely comment – the mention of MtH too me back down the years and had to revisit – great lyrics too.

      And so glad you have your hands on Machado now – learning Spanish as your enjoy poetry – best way ever

  11. Nice one Laura. I would have thrown down thar browning apple, also.

    much♡love

  12. Your poem describes our human condition so very well. We don’t like to be told no. The desire to taste and see is innate in us. Perhaps the apple you describe was a Quince! Very sour and acrid!

  14. Laura, I love the whole poem, but stanza 3 is my favorite. Forbidden but nobody will say why. There is a price to pay for traveling beyond permission and you describe it well. Had to look up manchineel and it fits perfectly, a fruit whose sap causes temporary blindness. The best fairy tales demand we disobey, but that is where the transformation takes place.

    1. many thanks Lisa for your appreciation and research too – the effects of the manchineel align so well with the poem – and yes sometimes a breakdown leads to breakthrough and transformation.

  16. Laura, I love the way the thoughts are mixed – especially in the third stanza – like the optical mixing of the Impressionists…

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