Protogeneia (literally, Firstborn) was married to Locrus but Zeus kidnapped her and took her off to Arcadia, to Mount Maenalus where he got her with three or four children, one of whom was Opus.
Opus = Work as in "A Work of music or poetry." Opus, a male, is related etymologically to the feminine words opera and operate. Remarkably, then, a medical operation is related etymologically to a musical opus, an opera or a poem so named.
These days, as Wiki says: "In musical composition, the Opus number is the "work number" that is assigned to a composition, or to a set of compositions, to indicate the chronological order of the composer's production. Historically, although composers have inconsistently applied the opus number to their works, besides numeric cataloging, opus numbers are used to distinguish among compositions with similar titles."
Opus 190
(in which Zeus complains to Protogeneia)
Fried filet of trust
spread a green heat to degrease
your cast iron pan
on my deranged stove.
It left an ash crust I must
scrape.
It will enflame
the rest of my days
like a red lined cape that's draped
on blood washed chains hung
from nails in my back.
Shall I exchange your dark browed
severity for
my own cleverness?
Or must I feign a journey
as I traipse along
the west boundary
of our soot streaked cave front home?
A haze lifts lazy
off the tonal strain
of this last composition
as I press sustain
with my cramped right foot,
crash the ebony clad keys
with both my bruised hands.
December 7, 2014 6:28 AM
I love what you did here -- the musicality of the sounds and rhythms, which is what I believe poetry should be, anyway. Using those particular words was certainly a challenge, and one you met admirably.
ReplyDeleteClever creation using the words provided and the picture prompt.
ReplyDeleteO pus! is what I say when I am exasperated with the cat.
ReplyDeleteCouldn't find it in Wiki.
Great imagery
ReplyDeleteHave a nice Sunday
Much love...
Any poet who can work a cast iron pan into his work is alright. Good stuff, man.
ReplyDeleteoh,....excellent.....!
ReplyDeleteThanks everyone. This was certainly an inspired work. I know this because The Mag website came up late. I was already finished and I didn't have to rework anything to suit the image Tess gave us. It was as if Tess read my mind. Now that gets really tricky since I know the timing of all this is conflated. More likely, I read Tess' mind. Even more likely, this is all serendipity, probably my favorite word of all time and space.
ReplyDeleteThis soared to the rafters...a real Magnum opus..
ReplyDeleteClever indeed...thanks for sharing
ReplyDeleteNot a hazy read at all- you cleverly put your word list to meaning. Nicely done.
ReplyDeleteAnd yet there is a haze in the end, perhaps the fully dispersed remnant of some smoking hot moment. Thanks for noticing.
DeleteWonderfully imagery....
ReplyDeletesoulfully I stare at nothing
Nice combo...I am psychic by the way...
ReplyDeleteYes, Tess, of course you are. So am I. Heh.
ReplyDelete