POETRY POALL TIME

[kleenexwoman]

"Millions of Strawberries," by Genevieve Taggard

Marcia and I went over the curve,
Eating our way down
Jewels of strawberries we didn't deserve,
Eating our way down
Till our hands were sticky, and our lips painted
And over us the hot day fainted,
An we saw snakes,
And got scratched,
And a lust overcame us for the red unmatched
Small buds of berries,
Till we lay down--
Eating our way down--
And rolled in the berries like two little dogs,
Rolled
In the late gold.
And gnats hummed,
And it was cold,
And home we went, home without a berry,
Painted red and brown,
Eating our way down.

[Poll #1206652]

Comments

[cobaltnine.livejournal.com]

It seems very Edenic, which makes it both about sex and about knowledge.

[kleenexwoman.livejournal.com]

Oooh, I hadn't thought of that. I like that idea.

[sighing-echo.livejournal.com]

Yeah. I got that whole forbidden fruit thing too

[woodburner.livejournal.com]

Strawberries, sex, AND knowledge, I say. :D

Makes me want strawberries, and to lay out in the sun on a lazy day. Best read to a daffodil or a coat rack.

[elendraug.livejournal.com]

It seems like you can take it either way -- if you want it to be about actual strawberries, it can be. If you want it to be about sex, it can be that, too. Since you can interpret it on multiple levels, I would say it's child-appropriate enough.

It actually makes me want to be in a field during summer at sundown. I don't like strawberries, so the imagery there isn't enticing sexually or hungrily (?) to me, but the notion of nightfall during summer is something I'm now craving.

[anivad.livejournal.com]

It makes me want to eat other kinds of berries. I don't like strawberries much.

[kleenexwoman.livejournal.com]

I just had a big bowl of raspberries and blackberries. Strawberries are very acidic even when they're sweet.

[anivad.livejournal.com]

! I love raspberries. :( And blackberries too.

[josephwaldman.livejournal.com]

It's about strawberries and sex. Normally I don't like to combine the distinct pleasures of food and sex, but strawberries I find peculiarly erotic. Somewhat nipplish, methinks. And the seeds.

[kleenexwoman.livejournal.com]

I would have thought other body parts, but there you go. Personally, I find the mango the most erotic of fruits, with the pomegranate being perhaps a close second.

[josephwaldman.livejournal.com]

But the poor passion fruit has only its name to be sexy with. Sad, really.

[sir-dave.livejournal.com]

1) Both.
2) More of this author's poetry to read.
3) The subject sells the poem, not the technique.

[benprime.livejournal.com]

this poem makes me want: strawberries and a companion. Not so much sex, but someone with whom to go picking berries or hanging out in fields or walking home with. It could be read to a child or a lover because each would get something from it appropriate to them. Probably wouldn't read it to a favorite grandmother though unless she was, you know, extremely hip.

As for the eroticism of berries, there is a short scene in the pilot of Firefly where Kaylee is alone in the kitchen with a box of strawberries which is... extremely erotic.

Thank you for posting the poem.

[kleenexwoman.livejournal.com]

I do miss having outdoors friends to pick berries and walk in the woods with. ...I miss having places that I could go to pick berries or walk in the woods. This area is full of natural beauty that's either being torn down or hard to get to.

I seldom find strawberries erotic--the acidic taste, the unpleasant texture of the seeds, the way they get moldy so quickly...but the iconography associated with them is overwhelming. :)