Thursday, May 18, 2006

Poetry Thursday - 2 for 1

Wow!! I can't believe it's already time for

again!!!

But it is....and so, here goes - with a twist. Two poems...one written by a male, and one written by a female. There has been so much talk lately about bias and gender and male vs female poetry that I'd like to experiment just a bit if I could. You tell me - which is which? How easy is it to tell the difference? (And, if you have the time - what tipped you towards your pick?)

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Justine’s Sunset (#1)


Black and blue and blood-streaked sky,
pleasant-warm and moist
Desert hot at noon, and dry.
Is this your sunset choice?

Youth in Spring, when gentle gray
meant a calm, endearing rain
Gunmetal, thunderclaps in play —
No stigmatic foretold stain

Innocence is how you might
phrase that free and fertile time.
Yet your breeze is no less bright
for your red and welted clime

Heat, extremes, have driven you
to this madness, yet you love
Blood streaked sky, and black and blue
As below, so above.


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Justine (#2)

And are you waiting for Justine to break and cry,
her voice - the uneven colors of a faded bruise -
Her wishful dreams reflected in your jaded eye?

If left to her own devices, Justine will choose
to lie alone and bleed a deeper shade of red -
her voice - the uneven colors of a faded bruise.

She sings so soft that every other word's unsaid,
yet still she sings, and still she wants, and still she waits
to lie entwined and bleed a deeper shade of red.

She's lost between the chasm and the chain. Her fate's
the cruelest master - one who taunts her with her fears.
Yet still she sings, and still she wants, and still she waits -

and while she waits she wrings her hand and hides her tears,
obsessively, possessively - afraid to need
the cruelest master - one who tempts her with her fears.

And now she's kneeling just for you - for you, she'll bleed.
Are you still waiting for Justine to break and cry -
possessively, obsessively - afraid to need
her wishful dreams reflected in your jaded eye?

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1 comment:

Tammy Brierly said...

I new at this, so I'll guess. I liked the second one best because it was moving and emotional. I'm picking a man wrote this, because a man can be even more descriptive of a woman's emotions.

Just a guess :)