Wednesday, March 3, 2010

Oh Jealousy

This was a writing prompt - write a poem that would be response to a song. One of my favorite songs is Natalie Merchant's Jealousy. I'm not trying to match the rhythm or anything, but just the emotional connection.

I’ve seen your photographs
inside the albums he
doesn’t know I’ve seen,
the ones he’s been meaning to change.
Even if he had,
a face like yours will always be
in his memory, cleaved deeply.

I smell your fragrance when he swigs
a glass of bourbon.
I hear your voice when he sings
a song from that island you saw together.
You are always here.

Do his nights with me match the ones
you created together?
Were there sparks in the air
as flames floated away from your bodies?

I know how he would’ve wrapped
his body around yours
because he tries with mine.
I feel the raw hunger,
a ravenous readiness
to devour
but it diminishes.
Yet his desire swells,
the desire to consume your body
as I am consumed by your ghost.

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