March 7, 2013
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Ondine
Her image triggers a heat in his loins
As she roams knee-high in the rush of surf
Pink shimmering hair streams over pale shoulders
Pale breasts pale buttocks pale legs
Polished by glistening salt
Eyes raised to the luminous moon
Lips parted by stars
Twin tiny cactuses coraled in pink
She wanders the watery wastes
Past twisted swamp-willows
Revisited in yesterday's dreams
He follows as striated knifings of mollusky shells
Blackish blue-grey and sickening white
Slice at his feet
Stone barnacles pierce tender toes
Salt stings
Slats broken from traps float sluggishly past
Galvanized nails needle his skin
Unknown to her
She's marked by touches of blood from his wounds
As she weaves a carved lobster claw into her hair
Discarding the faded shore lilies like him
Shrivelled and old
He reaches to catch her as she floats past
Pink-tentacled hair spread on the inky brack
Nipples and bush
Faint pinky-points glow in the deep greening of swamp
She sinks under the weed-petalled sea
He hears the purrings of cat
And knows he will never see her again
Comments (13)
Fascinating story. Is it based on the movie or is there a myth older than the movie?
LOVE THIS; extremely beautiful and quite transporting, for as I read, I saw. Great work.
as usual, gripping and evocative.
I admire your poetic and descriptive word choices and enjoyed the stories that they convey. It was a pleasure reading several of your works.
@Roadkill_Spatula - Undine (Latin for "Wave") first appears as a beautiful water nymph in German mythology... She is born devoid of soul and must marry a mortal man and bear a child to obtain one... My poem is inspired by a spectacular 1954 Broadway production adapted from Jean Giradoux's play "Ondine" by Mel Ferrer... It starred his wife Audrey Hepburn and he played her mortal lover... Audrey won a Tony for her performance... I worked on the advertising for the production and thought it was beautifully executed (some of the effects on the multi-tiered stage were amazing) but the reviews were less than favorable and it did not have a long run...
@Seranish_Shores - Thank you so very much... Please read my response to Roadkill Spatula for my comment...
@ZSA_MD - Thank You Dr Z... and your Grandson is as cute as one of ours... Please read my response to R.S. for some backround...
@ElaineWestheimer - Thank you for your kind words and I will check your site too... Please read my response to R.S. in reference to my poem...
@peterjamesmanos - Was it filmed?
So easy to picture Audrey Hepburn in the role.
@Roadkill_Spatula - Perhaps it was but I really do not know and it was a long time ago...
@ElaineWestheimer - Yes... She was a lovely girl... she was trained as a ballet dancer... and literally glided through her role... her mother was her manager and had an absolute hatred for her husband... Audrey was one of the few actresses who won all three of the coveted awards for her trade... (The Tony, Golden Globe and the Oscar for her first movie "Roman Holiday" with Gregory Peck)... I met them briefly and could sense the animosity between the mother and Mel Ferrer...
Both those actors were my most favorite. Their performance in War and Peace was exceptional. Thank you for the elucidation of Undine. I have always had such great respect for the way you write.
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