Hydra Coil (for Obsidian) c. by rue jacobs 7/19/06 Ophion danced upon the waters and curled about the Goddess' waist it was in this way Sensuality was born no mortal tongue can describe her heart -the Pythoness in the cave comes close she's no more than the cobra in the basket the flaming sword of Paradise (where the soul of man is generated where we are brought in death) you follow that silver arc of a meteor in the sky you talk of calamity Atropos severs those strings and you hang for a moment in thin air now faster than the speed of light you fall leave Einstein's twin behind to age that silver strand is not for you you could not comprehend what morse of touch lies in each second it's the history of time itself leave it just leave it just leave it alone such stars bring ruin in their wake some wishes are best kept to oneself i am tracking a galaxy in your veins i'm tracing that serpent in this garden i am passing through the first world i am following the Road of Souls no one can fault a star, my Dear you've called me down like a lightening rod and shedding planets like a reptile skin i've fallen hurled like a spear into your waters i leave an absinthe trail in my wake
Aaron's Rod: Hematoma (for Obsidian) c. by rue jacobs 9/7/06 inside the ribcage unfurling like the wings of a dragon the ribbon of malice and lust coiled around my heart gives way and faster than the speed of thought the needle fangs pierce ventrical and artery once love is sated a darker force is fed i knew not the cruelty of desire until i knew you i lay in the grip of the gods curled in upon myself like cleopatra's serpent tracing the veins in my lover's throat blue roads of desire an infinate path no dragon's dungeon could compare to the prison cell of my own heart i devour myself like that viper what slept inside the plaited sedge is pouring like sand through a net cobra quick it strikes it washes over me like the Nile it chokes the delta with debris like a djin it rises and vanishes you cannot discern it indistinguishable from the ether as it is you can only observe the edges rippling like a ghost on the periphery a long cord of muscle and sinew a row of bone flexible as steel wire hunger is it's engine no matter what its meat, it is never gratified a burst like ripe cherries inside my mouth and blooms of blood fill the void beneath my flesh subdermal tunnels and subterreinian springs a river is pulled forth from your divining rod and gushing like a flood red as death red as lust...
Sex Kitten (for Obsidian) c. by ruejacobs 9/9/06 she's rocked to sleep with cordite lullabyes she's purring in your lap milk-fed and selfish as any cat it's your kindness that does her in she's forgetting the use of her claws whatever else she offers now you'll turn away she knows this tired cliche' by now the harbinger, the torque your foot on the accelerator she knows enough to begin the count what has stayed behind, what is left for her she knows the baying of your hounds and how the kitchen light is left burning she's been marking out the territory of your heart and brandishing your scent like a torch against the darkness she knows it's a foregone conclusion this is a battle she cannot hope to win this is what she expected all along she is one more stray in the hall rubbing up against your leg and as transient as hope one more night passes and she's already moving down the alleys of her mind that internal map survived no thanks to your compassion
Veil (for Obsidian) c. by rue jacobs 10/21/06 self immolation has its rewards still i make a poor suttee i will not hold my tongue, i tell you no man could imagine what its like inside my soul do not speak for me just because i stay silent i have suffered the voice of man from the day i was conceived and no man knows my heart a harlot's heart is what i have and the treacherous blood of a half-caste hun i have lived at the edge of the steppes traced that blood to the altar and i know my fate any woman could tell you a man's words are his fists any woman can plunge that dagger into her thigh and rein in the banshee scream smile serenely and ask her man would he like this veil better in violet or gold as the blade stains her hands with her blood that smile is her only defense a woman strikes inward in word and in deed too many sacrifices and she's under the ground ask her, then, or ask me how many times her own voice was silenced behind that veil ask her what she whispered under her breath what mantra kept turning like a prayer wheel in her head it's the echo of her heart a metronomic machinized drone to live another day through in this world of goliaths to fill her stomach and to breathe to dodge the fist and to endure all else is luxury her voice, her reason, her hope and her faith these are things that fall softly away like silk veils shed from her body when she dances for you
Temple Whore c. by rue jacobs 10/26/06 i am no reflection in this store front window this glass, molton now, creeps like moss upon my skin i am preserved like an insect in amber enamelled like a dime-store doll and twice as cheap i have stood at the crossroads in earlier lives the harlot stamp on the sole of my sandal in the dust, a come-on, a languid consumer-friendly nod, "Follow Me" what followed me was Death a glowing crystal prison a phantasm, a shroud i am Commerce Incarnate and twice as cold that is why the broken glass. be careful where you step i only tell you this because i worry i want your flesh unbroken, love there must be no blemish on your skin yes, where i tread i am unaffected because of the callouses i have developed i am hard as any idol and twice as smooth i used to bleed as any woman does as the vestal betrayed has bled in the village behind us there is a well filled with the blood of such women there's no shortage of sacrificial victims here the gods are no respecters of gender come now, did you not think that every woman has her price oh, yes, even your own wife but don't be afraid of the cries in the distance from here they could be ecstasy all along men have followed these swaying hips oblivious to thier fate why should you be any different? i'm as unlucky as judas and half as sincere
Jeeez. Thank you for sharing these. I didn't time it, but I'd guess I spent at least two hours reading your poetry. I found myself continually spinning off into the scenes and events that must have been the fount of your imagery, that is, at least in my mind. Kinkish1
Water Spider (for Obsidian) c.by Rue Jacobs 1/23/07 where i percieve webs you see rows stacked like dominoes i have felt your pure breath scatter on my surface transitory and brief linear and cool as surgical steel and pointed as a weapon it clung to me and hovered: the sword of damocles filtered through this morse of touch i know nothing beyond that sensation i have been isolated as a virus and kept in a cocoon you are counting the rings in the water treading the aquatic labyrinth the only monster at the center is me you say, "home, love, mother, hearth." i say, "dread, lonliness, cruelty, want" and that is why we cannot communicate my alphabet is some exotic code you cannot break my words mean nothing to you i have shed my life like an exoskeleton in pieces in scales in the debris at the bottom of the lake everything i once valued has fallen from me and turns in lazy spirals out of reach everything i valued has decayed everything but one i cling to it, spin it, wrap it in my web the waves will take it it's only a matter of time.
Domesticated (for Obsidian) c. by Rue Jacobs 1/31/07 i want that kind of love that hinge scraping metal on metal like a knife fight cruel and viscious barbaric and consuming love the one we used to play at like sword play nothing civil, nothing sweet i want to rake my nails across your skin leave my mark like grafitti scratched into your hide i was here, i was here 'my dear' you say and pour me tea you balance lemon wedges on the plate and i feel like a cat in the sun i clean my claws lick the blood from my hands shake my head hear the bells on the collar around my throat clavicle, scapula, vertebrae, hyloid such is the language of love i want the sweat and the violence of love i want to be conquered and to conquer you i want battle scars and bullets and burns to curse like a b-rated movie gangster and struggle i want a challenge 'my girl' you say and kiss my thigh you look like an angel when you sleep tendon, vein, muscle and bone such is language of love
Serious Juju (for Obsidian) c. by Rue Jacobs 2/27/07 caught in the flesh your chosen network a billion neurons racing down the tunnels of my brain if i could trap just one halt the cascade the domino fall of desire empty the hallways of my heart clear away the excess emotion and enjoy this ride, enjoy this ride... instead i concentrate upon your lips warm as berries in the sun long to lick them chew them suck them pull you into my mouth into me where you belong driving your point root-deep digging into me like a stake i am turning on that point like a jewelery box dancer to tin music i am clockwork in your arms let me always be your doll lying snug amoung the sheets tangled up inside your bed in your head and i said let me never be free again let me become yours and yours alone maybe then i could relax because my heart is racing at the speed of thought outdistancing the sunlight my love is at the edge of eternity poised on the brink of oblivion your are my infinate space you are my black hole you engulf me, you surround me you swallow me alive
Cobra's Kiss (for Obsidian) c. by Rue Jacobs 3/9/07 a hypodermic fang that drips venom piercing ventricle and artery floating like a pocket of air in my veins straight through the scars into my heart a viper syringe delivering a steady narcotic pulse and an hypnotic necrosis creeping outward like a mushroom cloud swallowed a word from your lips a hollowed out cyanide tooth that summons the void pins and needles, needles and pins spreading across my flesh and the terrible rush of mortality metallic taste like an opiate filling my mouth and choking me like molton gold poured down my throat diminishing sight one fell circle closing like a door steam hiss of nirvana then the roar of silence tide-loud at my temples pendulum slowing like a broken clockwork spring i could go out altogether like a birthday cake candle make your wish on me, Beloved tell no one
Resort and Spa (for Obsidian) c. by Rue Jacobs 9/7/07 will there be an ocean i think that was my first question i thought about the possibility of floating out to sea a fitting poetic lurch amung the waves before sliding soundlessly under your raft what would you think of that? so then no water except a clear blue pool takes the sport out of it, i have to say and the rollercoasters too... how you held my hand on the drop down and as the ride malfunctioned you turned to me with such cheer to say 'this must be the terror part' and how we laughed into Death's grin i could think of less pleasant ways to die, my love, than with your hand in mine one hasn't lived until they felt the cool steel muzzle at the base of thier skull there, my love, there, in that hollow just above the spine caress me there with your palm the bullets never were found there were five of them and my mother liked him very much i did not know serenity before i knew you you think i need to get away to find it? i tell you, dear, i am relaxed as a cat on the windowsill in the sun wherever you are, there is my vacation.
Slow Burn (For Obsidian) c. by Rue Jacobs 12/1/07 He's forgotten to bank the fire again Any wind could carry it away As functional to him As any other tool in his arsenal And untended it could prove disastrous This ember might seem to be cold ash Inside that pod, a seed of flame It waits in its cocoon For him to remember its use Not sleeping, but dreaming just the same Slow burn like the glow at the end of a cigarette Surprising in its intensity And heedless of its purpose That fuse, which moves plodding to its goal A match-point at which holocaust is birthed Discarded in the hands of fate And in slow burn
Sphinx, Remote Control (For Obsidian) c. by Rue Jacobs 12/3/07 A cat may look at a king Does this disturb you? Your face is an unreadable scrawl to me There's no rosetta stone at hand To decipher the glyphs of your intent Hey, I've heard tale of your attic From those more familiar than i It's said there's a storehouse of artifacts there That you have lost track of your dolls How once you own a thing You will keep it inside its box And never let it out Well, my original packaging peeled away long ago And I'm no collector's edition You can stuff and mount me all you like And I will still re-form Baby, I'm an old hand at this sort of game The shelf has long been my home I know my place, do you know yours? Keep pushing those buttons, then And see where it gets you What labels you offer are meaningless You speak of hollowness like It's something to be feared I've forever been a ka statue I do not function without being filled And I contain your energy now Go on, entomb yourself, Tut No matter how high you stack that pyramid You cannot travel without your ka Tell me, who is collected now: The pharaoh, or the cat?
Hermit Crab (For Obsidian) c. by Rue Jacobs 2/15/08 a great orgasmic sneeze and how this bed rocks like a ship i heard the phone ringing as pounding waves i never answered it left the shells to disintigrate in the sun we curl stomach to stomach on our sides like larval things in impure sickbed shrouds a lysolled cloud spinning through the filter of the air conditioner the television requires too much thought and i haven't the patience for conversation anymore he finally settles on disaster i would prefer anything but how guilt floats like motes of dust it is snowing in this room no wonder i have chills
Helix (For Obsidian) c. by Rue Jacobs 4/13/08 No spell can take my soul There's a price, there's always that I've got penance to spare But so have you. You might say the market is saturated in it these days. You might fly at me I've known that demon inside you all these years Haven't I tended his wounds Haven't I nurtured and fed him all along A serpent can't help being a serpent We are all born to strike In one way or another You held my hand in your palm I traced the veins that coiled to your heart You have been my labyrinth It is, beloved, only flesh and bone I care nothing for it now I want the monster beneath As much as the seraph Those wounds I healed were mine as well Beneath the flesh my wings unfurl Against skin stretched taut You could make it out But only with a dagger
Communion (for Obsidian) c. by Rue Jacobs 4/13/08 It’s hard to tell the parasite from the host Some days, depending on the view I bite my tongue, I tell you And you keep still Symbiosis makes dancers of us both In church, three years old, I bit down on the wafer Just two streets down from you Rice paper and cyanide: That’s what the flesh of gods is like I have tasted yours as well I felt its film against my teeth And pressed my fingers there, amazed It’s hard to tell the gods from the demons Some days depending on the view You bite your tongue, you tell me And I keep still Synthesis makes gymnasts of us both Bite down. Bite down. Bite down.
Upside Down (for Obsidian) c. by Rue Jacobs 9/4/08 Dangling from my vocal cords Suspended like a cat Nape of neck Shivering pearl I clamp down Clamshell tight I could batter myself blue As a subdermal bruise And still you want to be a puppeteer Listen I am not your doll You might dethrone the deity, but It’s a three day deal I’ll be back, I’ll be back Let there be no other gods before me I had tea with Persephone And Ereshkegal is my other name Do not think to use your hounds You know what comes of that I am not the queen of heaven or hearth Lichen white as my flesh is The flaking mold that you brushed from tomb stone Is vapor now I am smoke and mirrors Your hands will close on thin air I need no worshipper to prove my divinity Some ambition you had, then, Love You cannot possess ash
Sky-eater Conjunct (for Obsidian) c. by Rue Jacobs 10/13/08 So came the Father In the year of the Father Sacred, yes, but veiled in Shadow As dark and as stern as Saturn I have known the Self-Proud Zeus And the substitute Tanist King I have lain in Bacchic forests Well-f**ked and drunk with desire My flesh has been conquered Indelible marks stain my surface A lash for every word I spoke Well, didn’t I give as good as I got? I have spoken the tongue of the Seraphim And still not one could claim my soul So came the Father In the year of the Father And when that year had passed away Saturn yet remained Did I not truthfully say That the Archer’s bow Would dethrone them all? I have had many consorts Yet I have but one Master As Oedipus limped surely to his grave So, too, did I swallow the Cronos’ Stone And Gods digest within me now How they writhe beneath my skin I could only ever hear his voice As constant as the planetary pull My magnetic opposite My one true north As distant, as cold as that star Veiled with iron and bitter in my mouth I am in his orbit even now Balanced in this celestial dance My Ophion, my Dragon Prince The push and the pull Of a steller and digital dome
Catalyst (for Obsidian) c. by Rue Jacobs 10/17/08 it's an aeriel manuver this balancing act on thin air and i've been doing it for years what other craft could sustain life for so long in this atmosphere? orchid-like, i sink my roots down deep i balance on that air, then. and seen from below one might call it grace the ember whose flame lays buried beneath white coal you'd be a fool to blow away its shell of ash, Love let it lie, let it alone i have always been a bonfire don't question a parasite just dig it from your flesh thorns and all and cast it away before it consumes us both one word from you will grant it fuel entire worlds will burn to cinders i have awakened more fires in my day than i care to count i have burned like a witch in Salem i have burned like a martyr in Rome i might grow weary of clinging to your surface like an exotic moss of surviving on nothing but air i know but little else i have prayed to every deity i know to avert this conflageration those gods lie silent as the dirt impotant and sterile as sand now there is only you how shall i nurture when i know only want? even now, those leaves smoulder and curl your strength falls from you like the snow it piles in drifts at your feet leeching your will, i do not relent i wrap those vines around you and those vines are the vines that choke i am the daughter of the Underworld i am the child of Hel brimstone has nothing on me from the ground far below the canopy may look majestic no one could imagine what goes on up here.