Fertile Crescent (an experiment)

Because of the shape of that soft gash in the Near East, between my legs, which once sprouted spring green, babies and all things honey pleasant, and despite a current absence of humidity(a few nightsweats notwithstanding), the area is called the Fertile Crescent.
Total precipitation is indirectly reflected in the number of tissues in the wastecan whenever I start to cry, and is directly proportional to the rate at which the KY Jelly disappears from behind the bathroom mirror. The ratio of Oxygen-18 isotope in my menstrual sediments indicate the number of years I have remaining before my hips crumble like clay gods under the weight of my dilated, flabby abdomen and the total volume of bottled water taken in (they say eight 8 ounce glasses is enough).There is no systematical trend (eg. I'm not getting dryer and dryer in a methodical manner) and I will reach critical mass when I get there.
Perhaps in the 5000 years of hysterical record someone once developed a more efficient way to do this, but I suspect there have always been three large scale arid periods: 1) just before you wed ,when your priest has convinced you, in required weekly thought containment sessions, that your body is a holy sacrament; 2) just after giving birth, when the swollen flower of new motherhood throbs with dread and no, goddamnit, I don't want to play tonight and if you want to eat, make your own fucking dinner, and 3) now, grinding down into the rusting poverty of 40, 50, 65 (who's counting?).
My god, we've been doing this since time began.This was my Mesopotamia I wear between my thighs. I ruled with generosity. Now to only find myself on hands and knees, crawling toward a desert. Only dry land. Only dry land. My mouth is sticky. My cultural collapse.

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Interesting. I rather like the metaphor. JFC
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Doesn't this seem premature?? You have MANY years of the Ferile Crescent left---many, many. (unless you come from a family of women who have early menopause) and even then the times don't change that much. It's how we view it that makes the agnst. Dr. on staff
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WOW, what more can be said? S/S
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really amazing.
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Dr on staff:)))... not so much angst as just a poem. and an experiment in prose poetry; never went this route before. but yes, you are right, my tigris and euphrates run free...flood the banks. there is still potential in my soil. and i love the plow! lol!!! -pen (fun posting again!)
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Have a total hysterectomy and you will really see how desolate and dry a desert can be with an I don't care if you ever water me again attitude because desire has shrivelled into the domain of memory. My God what prompted you to unearth this feminine discourse from the recesses of living waters to display from the archives of tabu and ancient acceptances and trespass the land of menopause.
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well, for me, feminine discourse is the most interesting discourse. i have bookshelves just busting with male discourse. but menopause, experienced. dreaded or know about from other women... this should be taboo?! pppsshhhhawwww! -pen
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Here, here. Btw, pen, did you mean e.g. or i.e.?
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Hmmm.... I wonder. If I wrote a male counterpart to this poem, would it be this well received? Somehow, I think not.
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try it and see
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I do believe I have stepped onto some ground where I do not belong and need to get the hell outta here! JimT
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Stephanie Bagdadi wrote a nice poem(see Completed Poems). Name indicates her family are from Bagdad(on Tigris river), Iraq (former Mesopotamia), in the heart of the Middle East's Fertile Crescent. Their males (probably a Stephanie relative) think it's funny to throw sick, twisted humor in anyone's face. Obviously he's no poet. Reminds me of a Hollywood movie wherein the Genie utters magic words:"Ilhas Teezi!", given to the studio by someone like above commenter #1; NOT telling the studio, that the Genie was saying:"Lick my a--(rear)!" in his Middle East langauge. I'll treat Comment #1 (poem?!) as a sick joke, and a bunch of crap. -_ Zacky
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The poem shows advanced excellence in expression(as usual)but I think I like traditional form better. (personally) It's a treat to have this poet post here again. Jane
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Hello Jane... yes I like traditional forms as well, but I get peasure and satisfaction from experiemnting and maybe even skating out to the edge a bit. Why write if I am doomed to write the same damned thing over and over again?! penny
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yeah, but there are some lines you just shouldn't cross. and i don't think a male counterpart version would have been accepted at all either.
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Experiments belong in laboratories
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hey jimT---wait for me!--i'm with you--out of here too!!--window watcher
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lol!! WHICH line shouldn't be crossed?! not using iambic pentameter? writing about menopause, a perfectly natural human occurance? there are plenty enough people to write about tweety bird. i am flattered by the controversey and commentary! My husband thinks it is proof i have crossed a line -- I am writing poetry. I think he's right! penny:)))
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pen --- nice to catch a glimpse of your poem again. ya just have a way of making the mind think sideways & looking into the grey ... Drm
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yes of course, poetry is about putting this constant explosion of existence into perspective, into a common frame of understanding.
You are on track penny, stay tuned. Steven's right.
-- allan

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JimT and WW, COWARDS!
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ahhh pen...poetic prose...a welcome oasis in the desert...no chador for you!! :) ...rr
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I am female, maybe of an older-fashioned school, because I rushed out of here too....did not enjoy "poem" at all. Sylvia
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Darn right! At my age I know when to run! JimT
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Allan, drm and sweet rr... thank you for your kind words. To those who can so barely look at the poem that they have to stop long enough to write sarcastic notes, there is nothing wrong with not liking the poem "windowwatcher", "Jim T" and "Sylvia". But don't you think implying something isn't a poem because you don't like it is rather simpleminded? Just a thought. penny:)))
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Now that the "poet" has opened up new vistas of poetic artistry about what humans really do, how about some poems on incest, bestiality, genocide, serial murders, gang rape, spouse beatings, and all the other lovely things humans daily do to us and each other? :: Dusty
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"Great spirits have always encountered violent opposition from mediocre minds." - Albert
Einstein
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I put poem in quotes, penny, because, even if this prose is an acceptable new art, to me personally it is not poetry. If you feel free to express your opinions in your poem, (ok, no quotes), why are you so quick to censor the comments? Do we HAVE to like it cause you wrote it? Sylvia

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never said it wasn't good poetry--just the subject matter is completely out of the realm of my knowledge & for now i'd prefer to keep it that way if you don't mind--i wasn't at all trying to be sarcastic--just trying to be funny i guess--that's how i took jimT's comment--jokingly--followed suit--guess we failed--but as a young single male--i did not think it a poem i cared to dwell on--& i think you are being a bit touchy about it--but i didn't mean to offend you--window watcher
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I resent the remark that insinuates those that do not care for the poem has "mediocre" minds. To compare this to Einstein is ridiculous. And actually in some circles to discuss the moisture content between your legs is still tabu. And to insult a young man like WW (or anyone else) because he may not want to be subjected to this is more ridiculous still! What did you expect when writing a controversial poem? As a female, I too wasn't crazy about it but tolerated the poem, but your comments to others for voicing their frank opinions is a disgrace to the female race! G
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Now, I can be a real priss sometimes and I guess young single males would not be interested in the subject, but with all the flagrant stuff we are all exposed to every day, no one should be shocked.I think you should comment on the form and expression, and we are free to write what we are inspired by or what we can sincerely write about. The author played the part of a more mature woman and her feelings and did it very well. I know I have learned so much new stuff on male impotency this past year and oral you know what, I'm up to my gazoo in it. This poem is about a natural phase of a woman's life and not shocking to me in any way. It has poetic merit in its expression. :)Jane
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ok ladies--i admit no comment would have been better than what i said--but jane as a christian male i do limit my own exposure & would prefer not to comment on the poem--condem me if you all want to--i wasn't trying to offend anyone--said that before & sorry if i did--but please leave me out of futher discussion on this matter on way or the other--i have apologized & that should be it--WW
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This is AMAZING! Sylvia, I am absolutely flattered at alol the hullaballoo! I wouldn't ever call for censor of ANYONE'S poems or crits, last of all crits of my poems. As a matter of fact, I submit poems and critique in a group that is designed just for that purpose. A great deal can be l;earned from critique as well as from reading the poems others post. And no, Sylvia, don't feel I insist you like my poems because they are mine...where on earth did you get THAT idea?! G... it is very christian of you to jump to the aid of those you think I have hurt, but, again... their frank opinions are welcome. But it is my frank opinion that if you think something is not a poem because you don't care for it, that is simpleminded. And it is! I think perhaps some of you like to misread because you enjy the turmoil. I think it is all pretty funny... including you WW. Running for cover. I have to admit though, so far my favorite of all the comments is Dusty's. Let's see, you have BESTIALITY, you have, INCEST, you have GENOCIDE, you have GANG RAPES, you have SERIAL MURDER...and you have ...gasp!... menopause. LOL!! If that isn't a spotlight shining on women's place in this world, lol.. I don't know what is!
Please, do understand, I posted here out of a sense of auld lang syne. i grew into poetry here, i met people I love dearly here...I found my voice here. Sometimes I remember this place and come here. Sometimes I remember people with whom I used to write and laugh everyday, for well over a year. That is all. I am pretty comfortable with my voice, my poetry, what I have to say (there was a time I wasn't).
But CENSOR?! I am amazed at that remark..l.. lol... isn't this the group of poets who filed a disruption report because some poor soul had left city names listed on the site??!!! wouldn't it have been better time spent, writing poems? Again, I am happy if you like my poem, content if you do not. I wouldn't censor one of you for the world...even the most inane and incomprehensible of remarks (not left behind MY poem, btw). This is truely an honor, to have caused such a stir with one little poem about one little physical process, that not one male or female will not fail to be affected by, somehow or another during the lifespan. THANK YOU! You have made my heart sing! kisses to all! Penny:))
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If I wrote a poem about the malfunction of my pecker I'd be sent to the deep dark abyss. They talk about kotex on tv, what next a poem about that? Ditto Dusty, is there no line? Why can you women talk about anything and it's fine, we say you look good and it's sexual harrassment! Frank R.
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Write that poem Frank-I dare ya'. You show me yours and I'll show you mine.LOL!!!!!!
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Penny sweetheart you can cut the smiles. Takes some to get me riled but you've managed. Who are you kidding? You have been sarcastic in every remark you have made starting with mocking the author of the "tweety" poem to insulting me and WW.I never said what you wrote wasn't a poem, as far as I know sylvia is the only one that said that, yet you lumped me and WW into the same pile. He had it right, I was trying to be funny and most others would have made a cute remark back not a sarcastic one. Frankly I don't give a shit what you write about but when someone apologizes to you like WW did (which personally I think he was plain stupid to do, no offense WW)and you still put them down and then claim how great and innocent you are you are full of it. Think it is you honey who wants to stir things because I wouldn't have said another damn thing if I hadn't read your B.S. I don't care how long you have been coming here, you my dear are superior to no one! JimT
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[Disagreement with Jim... please, don't call names...]
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Panties in a wad, Jim? I think you see offense because you want to see offense.
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Maybe some of us think he didn't have far to look.
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Enough already! Poetry getting lost in a tangle of personal comments. Some nice on site reading; let's move on! :) -al
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pen...mesopotamia..one of my favorite historical places..
wonder what they wrote about on those cuniform tablets lol
truly enjoyed your poem...
reading the comments...like east meets west .....;)annie
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Sorry, Penny, but there's been a great deal of censorship in here lately. That's why I don't submit anymore. There's a group of people who e-mail Ann C. the minute there's something that doesn't meet there own personal guidelines. They really need their own page, but probably don't know how to start one.
Frank R. - - You are really funny and hit the nail square on the head! - -Batgirl
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Penny, I would like to learn. Could you guide me to a source that demonstrates that prose writing as you have offered is considered poetry? I mean this sincerely. Walt Whitman - and many others -wrote poetry that was not in usual style, but it was not all sentences, with Capital letters at the start and periods at the end, and phrases, with correct punctuation in between. It was poetic! Some of your descriptions were terrific, creative, but the form just seemed prose, to me. (You jumped to an erroneous conclusion, that I called it not a poem because I didn't like it). From my PERSONAL viewpoint, there were TWO points: I did not care for the content, and I felt perhaps the statements were made in prose form. The first you can not question, the second certainly, I could be wrong, and ask, sincerely, that you enlighten me. I would like to learn. Sylvia
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Sylvia... ever read Jack Kerouac ? - he wrote prose that swings like poetry
And poetry is not in the breaking of lines or in the rythem or rhymes per se, is it?
It's in 'being poetic' as you write, - daringly, honestly, directly seizing -
YOUR truth of existence, YOUR world and feelings
sharing in openness and tolerance
the privilege of looking through another pair of human eyes
without the blinkers of taboos, habits, nearsighted moral concepts
That's my view of the landscape
-- allan
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" to be nobody -but-yourself-in a world which is doing its best,night and day, to make you everybody else--means to fight the hardest battle which any human being can fight; and never stop fighting" E.E. Cummings...A poet I very much admire..who wrote among other things " how to hump a cow"..The man had many facets..as does Penny..the poet here.I admire Penny for the guts it took to write it and the skill in the rendering. This place will stop being of any importance when those that write here start being anything but themselves. I share the view of Allan......Jake
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Well Sylvia: prose poetry has been around for quite a while. As had the disagreement as to whether it is, in fat, poetry. But you must keep in mind, free verse was not too long ago considered drivel lacking self control..."real poetry" requiring Capitals at the beginning of lines, formal meter, a foremal rhyme scheme (such as shakespearean or petrarchan sonnets). As a matter of fact I know one site where one poster still feels that anything that is not in iambic pentameter and not of a formal rhyme scheme "not real poetry". So, I suppose poetry is what you make of it. But poetry has been around for a while. I would avoid Rimbaud, Verlaine and Baudelaire if you are easily shocked (Rimbaud wrote an adoration poem to his male lovers asshole. Really quite moving if you can get past the asshole part). On a less edgy note, there is a site that has prose poems written by Art Garfunkel (artgarfunkel.com); it's called Still Waters, has the poems and matching analysis. All quite nice, btw. There is an online journal AUGHT (http://www.geocities.com/SoHo/8789) with some nice examples (again, you might be offended by some of the poetry). As far as definition of prose poetry, you could consult any number of 'how to' books for poetry writing. These can be quite helpful in defining different types of poetry, as well as providing exercises. A nice book that covers both of these areas is "creating poetry" by drury. Has a clear explanation of prose poetry and some exercises. Good for other forms as well. There are others. Hope this helps you in your quest to learn something new. penny
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If I read a book [and] it makes my whole body so cold no fire ever can warm me, I know that is poetry.
Emily Dickinson
written on my Barnes and Noble coffee cup ! ;)))annie
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A good writer can use imagery to communicate an experience of something that his or her readers may never know, or have not yet known. Occasionally I have been profoundly moved by poetry that gave me a tiny sense of what it must feel like to be pregnant, give birth, lose one of my parents or children, or watch someone die. One must wonder why anyone alive at the end of the 20th century would think menopause unworthy of writing, thinking or talking about. If our experiences were all the same, none of us would find anything interesting to read here. Unless we are so ashamed of our own humanity that we come to find other humans who we can ridicule. ~Van
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P.S. As a gay father I would expect my "counterpart" experiences to be received with equal respect. ~Van
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Van..who was ridiculing whom? Check what Jim had to say. Checked Leonard Cohen as you suggested, and the poems I read were not "prose" as the ones written here, but thanks for the lead.
penny, thanks for all the leads, will check them all out....was waiting to read an apology to those whom you jumped on and judged harshly who were just being light and not at all sarcastic. Don't you think you went overboard a bit? On my part, I am sorry if anything I said brought you discomfort...it was just a different female poet viewpoint. Wouldn't it be boring if we all thought alike and just mushed over everything posted? Syl
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allan..your landscape sounds pretty cool..thanks. Syl
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Sylvia...I hope you find something you are looking for in the leads I gave you. I think however, if you are looking for an apology, you are looking in the wrong place. Overboard? Count the nuber of vitriolic responses to my poem. Read my responses carefully. I said nothing hateful to anyone. I called no one names and I only respondef to what was placed before me. You brought me no discomfort. I seem to have brought you some and that is rather unfortunate. But I am quite fine Again, I have no probelm with people's likes or dislikes of my poetry. I find smallmindedness tiresome, but as Jim and WW pointed out, that was your sin. Wasn't it? Let go of it Sylvia. This kind of stuff will cut your life short. Penny:)
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As a matter of fact... Im looking upon this as a bit of performance art. Another art form you might not be familiar ith, but pretty interesting! I'm going to copy the entire exchange for my next poetry club meeting...piece it into something that makes a statement about our society. Thanks! Penny:))
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thththht ththththth ththththat's all folks! Thought I'd move the Great Whine to the back toom. Been fun but lonnnng! Penny :)))))))))
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That's swell, penny, take your shots, and then close the poem. Where did Jim and ww say smallmindness was Sylvia's sin? From what I read Sylvia said she didn't like the content of your poem, and thought the form was not poetry. Jim and WW just wanted out, jokingly. And penny, you bandied the word simpleminded about quite a bit, even calling Syl that again, after she apologized. Hope your poetry group is honest with you. You judge awfully quickly, in my opinion, and cover it with psuedo-jovility, as JimT pointed out, and it seems to me, with an air of desperation. Take it easy! It's not that important. EK
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Jim T did say it. And sylvia admitted to it, as best she could. Seems Penny has taken quite a beating for writing an interesting poem. Is that her sin? She should be very proud, EK. That's all I have to say. Fred
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penny..disappointed and surprised you would make another crack at me and then close the poem. I do not see where JimT and ww said I was simpleminded, that only came from you. Fred, you may have gotten things mixed up. JimT did not say anything against me, penny did. I admitted to what? That I thought her form was not poetry? Aw, gee, that was so terrible to have that opinion. I agree she should be proud of writing an interesting poem, but I feel like the one who was beaten up. Sylvia
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Acxtually, when you read past the raving messages, penny got some very nice compliuments on her poetry. And menopause, what a thig to get riled up about! Sad people out there, causing trouble and then pointing the finger at the person the wanted to annoy. A Weekly Reader
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Grow up Syliva. Penny shounds pretty level headed to me. You sound otherwise!
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Grow up Syliva. Penny shounds pretty level headed to me. You sound otherwise!
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Grow up Syliva. Penny shounds pretty level headed to me. You sound otherwise!
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Ditto EK. I hope your poetry group is allowed to carefully go over every comment and that you don't censor any and that they are honest with you. You insinuated people were beneath you as Jim pointed out (tweety remark) and often did use the term simple minded to those that did not praise your work. Two jokingly made comments to get out and you couldn't handle that. I think the point that some made was completely ignored and that was people didn't get upset over the content of your poem, just your reaction to those that didn't embrace you. Yes, I hope your group gets to read all our comments and they are truely honest with you. ~T
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Says a lot that all the others could apologize but Penny couldn't or wouldn't. In fact Penny attacked WW and Syl both, again, after they apologized! Think if everyone read ALL the dialogue carefully, it is plain that Penny had no tolerance and was no victim. Seems there are those blinded by friendship. JJ