Elizabeth Barrette (ysabetwordsmith) wrote,
Elizabeth Barrette
ysabetwordsmith
  • Mood: busy

Poem: "Crimson History"

This poem came out of the September 7-8 Poetry Fishbowl. It was inspired and sponsored by marina_bonomi, who mentioned her earlier EMG-zine article "Red, A King Dethroned." It cites findings of red hair as a Neanderthal trait.  We speculated a possible path from there... 


Crimson History


When the world was frozen,
we discovered fire,
red tongues to keep the winter night at bay.
We and they stared at each other
from our distant caves
across the valley's cold floor,
two human species
divided by time and blood.
We were too different and too innocent
to make peace between us,
and so we invented war.
We killed them again and again,
beating out the red fire of their hair
and leaving their corpses naked as beasts.
But love and hate have always been
two sides of a single hand,
and somewhere in that conflagration
we too caught fire
and burned with them
so that even in this latter age,
rarely but indelibly a spark kindles
and a baby is born with hair of ancient flame.
We are marked,
like the striped tiger,
with a legacy of our crimson history.
Tags: cyberfunded creativity, fishbowl, history, poem, poetry, reading, science, writing
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  • 6 comments
marina_bonomi

marina_bonomi

September 8 2010, 20:42:20 UTC 10 years ago

Yes!
Thank you, Elizabeth, that's as poignant and strong as I hoped it would be.
ysabetwordsmith

*bow, flourish*

ysabetwordsmith

September 8 2010, 21:23:53 UTC 10 years ago

Thank you. I am quite fond of other hominids; Neanderthals are a favorite.
the_vulture

the_vulture

September 8 2010, 22:06:14 UTC 10 years ago

It's a powerful and eloquent poem.
ysabetwordsmith

Thank you!

ysabetwordsmith

September 8 2010, 22:16:34 UTC 10 years ago

I appreciate the feedback.
eseme

eseme

September 9 2010, 02:45:48 UTC 10 years ago

That's really cool, ad something I did not know about redheads (my sister is both readheaded and lefhanded).

It is also a poem with some great imagery - I like "our crimson history" and "hair of ancient flame."
ysabetwordsmith

Thank you!

ysabetwordsmith

September 9 2010, 02:49:23 UTC 10 years ago

I'm glad you like this. It's fun to hear what people's favorite parts are, or what a poem reminds them of.