Into the Jungle

[Tinker]

  Into the Jungle

I travel to the land of the veil
where maharajas sit on gold thrones
fanned by heart shaped palms
while sloe-eyed lovelies
feed them dates and wine.

My trek takes me through
the Creator's lush garden
on the swaying back of Jasmine
an elephant who lifts her trunk
to trumpet my arrival

Creeping in on me, the dense foliage
is green and wet and alive
with reptilian eyes, bugs that buzz
and bite and flighty butterflies,
Skittery things dart in and out, round about,
the sweat on my skin vibrates.

I want to look into the eyes of a tiger
with gold and black striped coat,
spear like teeth, the dispassionate eyes
that hold contempt for all the beauty
that surrounds him. I must see.
                   ~~Judi Van Gorder                      

This just took on a life of its own.  Response to a prompt to write about travelling to a place you have never been.. 

[dcmarti1]

A didactic cinquain about travel to a place I have never been, a forest in Manniku. (Yes, Tony, Estonia.)

Forest
Blue, hushed
Dreaming, breathing, living
Imperious in its beauty
Sacred

 

[Tinker]

AWESOME!!!!

[Michael Burton]

Tinker,

I love the third stanza of your poem. There's so much effortless motion put into those words. The last line especially, "the sweat on my skin vibrates," is great. One senses a real immersing of the traveler in the world of the jungle.

-Michael

[Tinker]

Michael, thanks for taking the time to read and comment.  I appreciate your recognition of that line because this was a flight of fantacy that by that point in the poem I felt needed to come down to earth a bit.  

~~Tink

[tonyv]

Judi, the imagery is like Tyger! Tyger! meets Ozymandias. Such richness. It calls to mind a mural I saw when I was in Florida --

... which partly inspired one of my poems.

I'm also excited that "Into the Jungle" inspired Marti to compose a "travel to a place I have never been" poem of his own.

Tony

[Tinker]

I remember that photo, it is in the Playground and it was a challenge for others to write a poem.  Maybe subconsciously that was in my head when I started writing.  And Yes, I really like Marti's Cinquain.   It needs to be saved somewhere so it isn't lost in the thread of someone else's poem.    I'm going to add it to the Crapsey Cinquain article, that gets a lot of hits.  I don't know if I can transfer the photo though.  

~~Tink

[tonyv]

33 minutes ago, Tinker said:

I remember that photo, it is in the Playground and it was a challenge for others to write a poem.  Maybe subconsciously that was in my head when I started writing...

The mural was in a movie theater I visited while in Florida, and it partly inspired my poem "Florida."

Tony