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Flesh of my Flesh

Today, we are privy to the last "Form Monday" at OneStop Poetry.  This community has provided me so very much by way of growth...in my writing, and in my friendships.  While the real world has me busy, I couldn't let this pass without visiting, and have selected a previous Onestop submission inspired by Dante...and Brian Miller! We're talking myth and poetry today at Onestop....have a visit, and share what this community has meant to you!

 Original Post:
It Friday Poetically time again at Onestop Poetry, and this week, Brian Miller has provided us a great shot of Jean~Baptiste Carpeaux 's sculpture, "Ugolin et ses fils" who took his inspiration from Dante's Divine Comedy.  I only thought it appropriate for me to do the same.

Flesh of my Flesh

Inferno, Purgatorio, Paradiso
What is hell to one who has not sinned?
What is Purgatory to one who has yet to taste death?
What is Paradise if not heaven?
Beatrice awaits my arrival
But for 35 years the wood has grown and grown darker
Within her outstretched boughs
The lion and leopard wait
While the she~wolf prowls
Waiting to peel back my flesh
So on to the seven terraces I race
Climbing the mount that is Purgatory
Chasing desire
Desiring closeness with those most high.
Flesh of my flesh
Heed my warnings
For my survival means nothing
If not for your own!
I have seen where we are to travel
But this pound of flesh is not mine to taste.
Beyond Beatrice they await
And this blood sacrifice bleeds not enough
For you to taste the glory
Of flesh, faith and spirit
United together through nine celestial spheres
Divided against itself
Where the divine trinity
From which comes our humanity
Is revealed.

Image provided by Brian Miller @Onestoppoetry

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Brian Miller said…
nice that was a magical journey natasha...the lion and leopard wait to peel back my flesh...zinger of a line...love your warning!!!
April 8, 2011 at 3:00 PM
Rasii said…
I think Dante would have been proud. The pace and tone were perfect - in the same key, to use a musical reference. Your two questions at the beginning and 'blood sacrifice' were favorites for me. RS
April 8, 2011 at 3:26 PM
Anonymous said…
Loved that you threw "Beatrice" into the mix Natasha, you were spot on with this one, you'd do anything for your flesh, but you gave this an element of mysticism I thoroughly enjoyed. Thanks so much for bringing it to the table!
April 8, 2011 at 3:35 PM
Maude Lynn said…
This flows so beautifully!
April 8, 2011 at 4:42 PM
hedgewitch said…
Nicely done, Natasha--a lively and entertaining poem that's a pleasure to read.
April 8, 2011 at 6:06 PM
James Rainsford said…
Such an intelligent and well read response to the picture prompt. It's refreshing in the extreme to read such a well structured and perceptive poem, which clearly illustrates, both the poet's knowledge of classical literature and exemplifies their considerable talent. A triumph of divine proportions.
April 8, 2011 at 6:46 PM
Anonymous said…
A mother's love and willingness to sacrifice herself for her child. Beautifully done, and I love the spiritual element...
April 8, 2011 at 10:50 PM
Pat Hatt said…
Wow great job on this one as well, everything really hits home, as it's so true. Made me think about pound of flesh in a whole new way..haha
April 9, 2011 at 1:22 AM
Anonymous said…
Essential question and the search for those answers in a ladder climb up from the depths as the questioner approaches the celestial court in search of her answers. Utterly beautiful, deep and brilliant. You've laced both earthy and more lofty concerns as part of your spiral climb for those answers, which makes the poem not only riveting, but gives the story of both the statue prompt and the poem that inspired it a real connectivity. But, still, I'm caught up and following in your spiral search as your questions bounce in my head. Then, something else happens. You turn the search around and incorporate still something bigger: this pound of flesh is not mine to taste, as the poet steps out of the picture to grasp its true immensity and turns the story inside out to serve her quest. Please let me know what answers you find! Deeply brilliant!
April 9, 2011 at 10:34 AM
Anonymous said…
Beatrice, the muse, the goddess, "Behold, a deity stronger than I; who coming, shall rule over me.", the unattainable, the holy. The earth at its concentric center, theology the guide to the spheres of Heaven so well incorporated into your poem. You’ve inspired me to read Dante. This is magnificent!
July 18, 2011 at 11:32 AM
Brendan said…
Something about this reminded me of the Renaissance Dream of Poliphilo,, Dante's Comedy read from way down under the cathedral, down where the beasts roam amid the ruins of prehistoric temples. Dante's Hell is an endless, grinding, downward spiral, Satan's poop-chute, with few and fewer passing beyond to purgatory and paradise; here the consuming element of guilt is replaced by a primal yearning to become one with divinity; cuts out a lot of the two-stepping with Charon, and the end is perhaps more fun than Heaven.
July 18, 2011 at 11:39 AM
Kerry O'Connor said…
Of all trips into the realms of Hell, Dante's must be considered a prime example. You did a wonderful job recounting the tale in your original style.
July 18, 2011 at 12:44 PM
Reflections said…
Beautifully shared, structured of myths and form, yet realms of Dante and self, coexisting, kind of primal.
July 18, 2011 at 1:19 PM
Beachanny said…
You wouldn't know it by the outcome, but I started my "red shoes journey" here. You well incorporate the journey of Dante and Virgil the the levels and yet aloof from it as though it unfolded in the sky, on the screen of the dark woods, in the reflections of the sea. Like reflections in Plato's cave you know the myths but exhibit that that the journey for you has only begun. I like that edginess between innocence and experience. Thank you so much for linking today. Gay
July 18, 2011 at 2:04 PM
Chasing Tao said…
Skillfully wrought with silver threads and golden needles Natasha...and sounding a message loud and clear!

"For my survival means nothing
If not for your own!
Heed my warnings..."

Roger ☺
July 18, 2011 at 7:50 PM
Anonymous said…
I see passion between the lines. There's power in your words today.
July 18, 2011 at 11:05 PM
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