Wrote this poem in about twenty minutes. Might not be finished, might be. The idea came from a writing exercise I sometimes do to get me going, where I just write whatever comes into my head for five minutes. That's where the toad and his beard came from. The Breton separatist bit came from some of the people I follow on Twitter! (I'm not a terrorist or anything, I just like to hear about what's going on in Brittany). There are a few little details in this poem about my own childhood, when every holiday was spent in Brittany. We had a wonderful neighbour whom I think of as a surrogate granny, and who was terrified of toads and salamanders, apart from being one of the wisest and kindest people I have ever known. Our garden was full of toads, so every time we found one we would go and show it to her. There is no landscape on earth quite like the Breton. I miss it terribly so this crazy poem is a tribute to one of my favourite places.
Thoughts from a Breton Separatist Toad with a Red Feather Beard
When I was just a comma in my jellied womb
long ago in Finistere, in a quiet freshwater pool
under glowering granite and dripping tongues of ivy,
it felt like sphereing when a fish swam past,
I rolled over in my world and felt a kick in my belly.
Now somewhere by my flimsy-skinned navel
I feel wingbeats when I sing. It is the same feeling,
and I sense myself glowing in the forget-ne-not blood
of a summer sunset; the sky glows like granit rose
or the opal expanse of la Cote d'Emeraude.
My skin was once gwen ha du, now faded to brown-green,
peppered with dimples
like the buckwheat shroud around a sausage. This land
is beautiful and terrible, and as I am le diable, it suits me
to a ty.
A croak rumbles in my belly; I let it go.
I feel wingbeats again. The moon rises and paints the slogans of my skin
proudly gwen ha du. I look around me, feel
the footsteps of a giant, the stillness of stupefied
ancient armies,
here by the side of the same small pool
hidden between glowering granite and dripping tongues of ivy.
copyright (C) 2011 stays with me.
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