This Cowgirl's Lament
by Jane Flett
A tornado and peacock were bred in his paddock;
the couple gave birth to a turquoise lasso.
It lapped round my heart, soft as oil, iridescent,
and I gave up right then on stacked shelves and school.
I fled to a ranch that was smitten with roses,
where buttercups bucked amongst horses and whips.
I learned to smoke Camels which glowed red at sunset,
a circle of fire like a solar eclipse.
My cowboy drank moonshine and kissed like a comet
his lips were chipotle, his tongue was cayenne.
He blacked both my eyes for a bet with the mountains
and locked my heart out of his opium den.
I guess he was a Mustang, his temperament feral,
he needed horizons upon which to roam.
When I scattered my Tarot, it came up the Priestess,
so I bandaged my bleeding, and headed for home.
the couple gave birth to a turquoise lasso.
It lapped round my heart, soft as oil, iridescent,
and I gave up right then on stacked shelves and school.
I fled to a ranch that was smitten with roses,
where buttercups bucked amongst horses and whips.
I learned to smoke Camels which glowed red at sunset,
a circle of fire like a solar eclipse.
My cowboy drank moonshine and kissed like a comet
his lips were chipotle, his tongue was cayenne.
He blacked both my eyes for a bet with the mountains
and locked my heart out of his opium den.
I guess he was a Mustang, his temperament feral,
he needed horizons upon which to roam.
When I scattered my Tarot, it came up the Priestess,
so I bandaged my bleeding, and headed for home.
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Author's Note
I'd never written a poem that rhymed before and it seemed about time.
published in The Delinquent.
Update: this poem will feature in the Best British Poetry 2012, published by Salt! Thanks to Roddy Lumsden and The Delinquent.
Other stories by Jane Flett
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Well, this is just wonderful--all of those images so compressed and intense. Maybe it comes from this line "his lips were chipotle, his tongue was cayenne," but on the second read "Goodbye Old Paint, I'm Leaving Cheyenne" was playing in the back of my mind :) *
A lot of fun but also dreamy and a visual splendor!
A tornado and a peacock - love that pairing
every line here is amazing "kissed like a comet" and "smitten with roses" and that last strong image... *
Thank you, cowgirls.