literature

babel, babylon

Deviation Actions

iPawed's avatar
By
Published:
633 Views

Literature Text

when i was nineteen i fell in love with klimt, so he dressed me in gold
scattering gems in the shadows of the cloth;
but on my birthday, hundertwasser told me how my curves were
more beautiful than god's grace.

you loved me best when i burst from the sea:
you loved me best when botticelli called me venus,

but to you i was venice:
my salted hair forming ropes forming rivers,
creating canals from my collarbone to my breasts
creating lagoons at the hollow of my throat,
at the hollow of my navel:

and you traveled the currents as colombus,
mapping my skin until every crest was an island;
until each curve became a continent,
until my palms became ports,
and i was complete --

to you i was delphi:
where i cupped my fingers was the womb of the world,
marble-column limbs gracing a temple of ribcage

but i am not carved from stone as michaelangelo dreamed:
i am not his virgin of the rocks:
i am babel, i am babylon,
i am all but forgotten
this wasn't going to improve with age like wine would
© 2011 - 2024 iPawed
Comments11
Join the community to add your comment. Already a deviant? Log In
pardonM3's avatar
Am so appreciative of that art history class right now.

My favorite image, though: where i cupped my fingers was the womb of the world,
That gesture gets me.

Also really dig the play with Virgin of the Rocks.