Fascinating new poem by Wicked Eve

[REDWAVE]

I haven't been on this forum for a while, but now I'm back! What brought me back was reading a fascinating new poem by Wicked Eve (that sexlacious serendipitous siren and strumpet), "Into the Mountains."

Here's the link to it:

http://www.literotica.com/stories/showstory.php?id=75030

Now go there and read it, will ya? And then come back. I'll wait. O yeah-- and while you're there, you might as well vote on it, too.

Back now? Good. With this poem, Eve is in her element: the interface of sex and religion. That the snake is a phallic symbol is pretty obvious, I think, but there's a lot more going on here than just that. Pru= Prudence? Maybe. I'm still thinking about that one.

I'll be back with more exegesis of the poem later. I've just barely scratched the surface, of course.
Feel free to jump in with your own interpretations, too.

 

[REDWAVE]

Following the windings of Eve's mind

First stanza:

The path twines over yonder
'round those trees
it weaves around
and between them.


The path-- the path of life, the path to heaven, the path of virtue? The trees probably represent obstacles on life's way.


Second stanza:

Step lightly
step quickly
upon that serpent's dirt back.


Why does the serpent have a dirt back? Probably because the serpent is a phallic symbol and as such represents sexuality. (Surprisingly, we learn at the end that the snake is NOT the Devil, despite the traditional association of a serpent with Satan.) The serpent has a dirt back because of the traditional religious idea that sex is somehow "dirty" and wrong. (Whereas in fact, it's healthy, normal, and natural.)


Third stanza:

That old snake trail
has wicked winding tail
that'll rattle bones
and bite your soles.


A masterful stanza. Notice most of the lines in this poem don't rhyme, but the first rhyme occurs here, with trail/tail. Eve is using the technique of occasional rhyme, which gives special emphasis to the lines where a rhyme does occur. The "tail" of the "snake trial" is sin, evidently. There's a delicious pun with soles/souls. Also, "rattle bones"-- a reference to an erection (a "boner")?


Back with more later.

 

[Angeline]

Welcome back!

it is a stunner of a poem, I agree.

 

[WickedEve]

LOL I love your interpretation, RED!

 

[REDWAVE]

Probing deeper into Eve's . . . uh, mind-- yeah, that's it, her mind

Let's move on, shall we?

Fourth stanza

Be nimble before it strikes
leave that serpent at your heels
and be swift to Pru's side!
Cast out the Devil
before you lose your bride.

Again, the side/bride rhyme puts emphasis on those two lines. "Pru" definitely seems to represent the better side of our natures. Is she the bride mentioned?


Fifth stanza

He squats in corner
stoking the fires,
poking his fingers
into her pot belly
black iron stove.

He-- the serpent? Stoking the fires of sexuality?
Poking his fingers into her pot belly stove clearly has sexual connotations. But a stove is artificial, man-made.


Sixth stanza

She sways,
naked limbs flailing,
hair cobweb tangled
from denting ceiling--
plaster peeling
falling like flakes of snow.

"She" apparently is Pru. The reference to cobweb tangled hair foreshadows the spider imagery coming up. The description of the surroundings indicates poverty and decay, with the falling plaster incongruously likened to snow.

Well, that's as deep into Eve's . . . mind as I can get for now. Back later.

 

[REDWAVE]

The climax

Seventh stanza

He's rocking, red-eyed,
creaking the boards
and spinning a tale--
a spider webbing Pru
with strands of madness.

Now the serpent's become a spider, combining reptilian and insectoid imagery. As best as I can figure out, he's sitting in a rocking chair, rocking and telling Pru about the "madness" of sensuality.


Eighth stanza

You slide from serpent tongue,
left forked--
venomous images poisoning your mind:
spread thighs draped in sweat,
blinding beneath the sun,
driving sensible thought
into the shadows.

This strikes me as the climax of the poem. Something major is happening here, although I'm not sure what. Why are the images "venomous"? Spread thighs draped in sweat doesn't sound very venomous to me-- unless they're really gross thighs, lol. Sexuality brings about a momentary frenzy which drives "sensible thought into the shadows," at least temporarily. This stanza seems to depict the overwhelming of reason by passion.


Well, I gotta go smoke a cigarette now.
Back to finish up later.

 

[WickedEve]

Aren't some poems only as brilliant as the person reading them? Maybe this poem is fascinating because of the way you perceive it. We all know what a great and twisted mind you have, Red.

Now finish that cigarette and tell me what you think the ending means!

 

[REDWAVE]

Resolution

Ok, I'm back, having smoked not only a cigarette, but a few bongloads too!


Ninth stanza

She cries his name,
shedding tears of lust
that muddy the way to her door
where you'll knock no more.

The door/more rhyme emphasizes the gloomy finality of "no more." Why does she shed tears of lust? I'm not sure, but again sexuality seems to be characterized as something that brings misery, not pleasure and happiness.

Tenth stanza

A gauze of white skin
billows in the wind--
last breath of sanity drained
Pru is tattered in the treetop
over the lure that snared her.

"Gauze" has several possible meanings, but they all denote something thin and transparent or woven. "A gauze of white skin" is a striking image, which suggests her skin has been flayed. The victory of passion over reason is complete-- "last breath of sanity drained." The lure that snared her-- sexuality?

This leads us up the the final and deeply pessimistic

Eleventh stanza

Now standing twixt snake trail and the Devil
you're lost no matter which way you turn.

Eve's stanze appears to be that of the lapsed believer: someone who deeply wants to believe, maybe even has to believe-- but just can't. The "snake trail" is revealed to be something other than "the Devil." Does the "snake trtail" represent the amorality of hedonistic absorption in pleasure, and "the Devil" the outright immorality of malevolence and hatred? Another puzzle here is the title. The poem is called "Inot the Mountains," yet there's no reference to mountains, not even a veiled one, in the poem that I can discern. Perhaps the mountains symbolize insuperable obstacles; those mountains just can't be climbed.

Now Wicked Eve can come back and tell me how full of shit I am, and how utterly I've misunderstood her poem.

 

[WickedEve]

You're full of shit and you utterly misunderstood my poem!

But if that's what it means to you then that's what the poem is about... for you. When I wrote it I was thinking mountain folk lore. I was writing something earthy, supernatural, and yeah, I had to toss ol' nick and a serpent into a pot of sin, sex and insanity. Ahhh... the ingredients of a wicked poem.



The path twines over yonder
'round those trees;
it weaves around
and between them.

Where I live, everything is "over yonder." This path is over yonder, winding into the mountains.

Step lightly,
step quickly
upon that serpent's dirt back.

It's a twisted trail -- winding like a snake. The trail is a snake with a dirt/ground back.

That old snake trail
has wicked winding tail
that'll rattle bones
and bite your soles.

It's a rough trail into those mountains. It'll rattle your bones as you make your way forward and the rocks will bruise your feet. Yes, there was a sole/soul play on words. Also, I used "rattle bones" to make you think of skeletons and death and souls.

Be nimble before it strikes;
leave that serpent at your heels
and be swift to Pru's side!
Cast out the Devil
before you lose your bride.

The first 3 stanzas were written months ago. Then over a week ago I added the rest. I was writing a story about Prudish Pru and the devil and his demon Darnell sent to torment and pleasure her. You know the kind of stuff I write. So... leave the serpent at your heels means to leave that trail behind and for the man in this story to go quickly to his bride because a devil of some sort (not necessarily the Big D) is after his woman.

He squats in corner
stoking the fires,
poking his fingers
into her pot belly
black iron stove.

"Poking his fingers into her pot belly" is meant to have sexual connotations, of course.

She sways,
naked limbs flailing,
hair cobweb tangled
from denting ceiling -
plaster peeling
falling like flakes of snow.

Here I imagined that she's been seduced by this bad boy and she naked and quite insane. Supernatural happenings are going on inside her little mountain abode. She's floating and banging the ceiling, cobwebs in her hair. Banging the ceiling/banging the headboard=sex. Cobwebs=confusion/nsanity.

He's rocking, red-eyed,
creaking the boards
and spinning a tale -
a spider webbing Pru
with strands of madness.

I saw him either rocking in a chair or on his heels, telling Pru things to drive her crazy. Of course, I linked spinning, spider, webbing, and strands.

You slide from serpent tongue,
left forked -
venomous images poisoning your mind:
spread thighs draped in sweat,
blinding beneath the sun,
driving sensible thought
into the shadows.

The man leaves the trail and travels left. Right is good and left is the correct way to go but it takes him in the wrong/bad direction. He has sexual visions of his bride with another, causing him to have irrational thoughts.

She cries his name,
shedding tears of lust
that muddy the way to her door
where you'll knock no more.

He hears her saying this other man/devil's name. Tears of lust=it feels good but it's oh so wrong. The tears muddy his way to her door. He's thinking she's been unfaithful and that is already damaging/muddying the relationship. And he'll knock no more because he believes her to be unfaithful or because they both are about to perish.

A gauze of white skin
billows in the wind -
last breath of sanity drained.
Pru is tattered in the treetop
over the lure that snared her.

I saw this next stanza in different ways. I was thinking of a spider draining the blood from it's prey and leaving only a shell. And also her sanity was drained leaving her only a shell of her former self. I pictured her being so thin and frail at this point that she was tattered in the tree tops above the lure that snared her. The lure was lust, a smooth talking devil, temptation, wanting something you shouldn't... many things, I suppose.

Now standing twixt snake trail and the Devil,
you're lost no matter which way you turn.

At this point, he can't go back. I saw him standing near the house and the devil just outside the door waiting for him. The Devil is going to get him either way.

 

[Miss Mary Allan]

Hello. New poet here. Hopefully, I'll have a new poem posted by tomorrow.

This is a very interesting poem, Wicked Eve. I certainly couldn't write anything like this. Is it based on some mountain tale?

 

[WickedEve]

Hello. New poet here. Hopefully, I'll have a new poem posted by tomorrow.

This is a very interesting poem, Wicked Eve. I certainly couldn't write anything like this. Is it based on some mountain tale?

No. This story slithered out of my mind.

I look forward to your first poem.

 

[daughter]

no comment

WE,

Well after chiding, RED that way, I'll simply say I enjoyed the tale (pun intended).

Peace,

d