Tuesday, January 8, 2013

Missionary Stew

Could I interest you toads in a winter snack, steaming and chunky with just enough spice to tantalize the tongue? Herotomost here.  When the call came...midnight, twelve-thirty, all the way from South Africa, Kerry asked if I would be willing to write a collaboration with Shay....AKA Fireblossom. Thats akin to being asked to co-star in a film with Johnny Depp, a little heady and and a whole lot exciting. At first Shay was like...not that guy...anyone but that guy...and I understood.  But after repeated stalker e-mails, texts and unannounced visits, she threw up her hands and decided to make me her charity for the month.  Needless to say, i was filled to the top with joy and more than a little scared. What we came up with is the little ditty below...following her lead, there was no way that I could fail really, cuz she is a really good dancer.  Hope you all enjoy!!!!!!!!
 

                                           Gaarkeuken in Rotterdam / Soup kitchen
 
 
Missionary Stew 
 
 
 
Never say I don't take care of you, honey.

Sit here, and no hats at the table!

Let me wrap my arms around you, sinuously, with an apple in each hand;

holding kindling sticks like rose stems between my teeth,

cut even as hours, and tied with rubber bands.

 

Two miles in on a twelve mile spur

He walked twice engorged with lust and want

Her place at the end of the trail

In passions thicket

Bibles are heavy, but that bangle

In his front pocket was heavier

A token in trade for sinful ways….it’s been so long

She bought him with free wine and a nipple slip

At that bar and grill on State Street proper

God doesn’t smile, Jesus doesn’t frown

But they do have ways of knocking “good” men down

 

Never say that I tease you, honey.

My bed, it is cold but it's wide;

Don't fret about the shrunken heads and tendon-tied bones,

Because now that we're alone,

I remember State Street and your delicious devil smile.


 

Her pastries filled with bloody souls and grape jelly

He knew he was not the first, the others still hung about in smoke

The smell of her freshly showered hair, a hint of Jasmine and whiskey

She kept him two fingers from paradise

By keeping a sharp blade and sharper tongue

Stone ground testicles in a jar

Taste sweet on a frosty January morning, on toast 

He went for the prize early on Christmas night

And she unwrapped him neat

Mary did the deed, Moses gave the law

She dined in glory, on the “chaste” man’s flaw

24 comments:

Susie Clevenger said...

Wow! This is incredible. It is hard if impossible to tell who wrote what. Steamy, electric, I love it!

Kerry O'Connor said...

This is some kind of messed up glory right here!

I do not know what I was expecting but this warp and weft of passion and hunger (and all the edible bits in between) is what happens when two great planets collide. Your story-telling skills are the perfect match, and like Susie, I'm not sure who wrote which section, though hints of style come through in a line, then the very next one throws me off.

Encore!

Fireblossom said...

Corey lies. Kerry sent him to my house and he gave me a McGuffey's reader and a crayon and told me I had better step up my game!

Seriously, when I was offered the chance to work with Corey, I was delighted to accept, and we had fun writing this little lunch time rhyme!

Grandmother Mary said...

What an amazing combination of religious allusion, hunger and sexual passion with the thread of his justification running throughout. You lit each other's fire for sure.

Unknown said...

The 12-year-old boy in me titters every time I see the word 'missionary'. That being said, this was lovely. A beautiful collaboration!

Grace said...

Love the collaboration ~ This is a sizzling read on a snowy cold day ~ Good contrast of good and chaste, versus all-out sinful passions ~ And that last stanza wraps it up beautifully ~

Great job Shay and Corey ~

LLM Calling said...

amazing, I love the way the collaboration works so well. welldone

Unknown said...

Like a real-time liquor fueled flirtation, this piece picks up energy and speed with each line exchanged. You two should work together more often!

Susan said...

Alchemy and lust and a last supper! O my Goodness, what a read! I am reeling. But aren't all compelling Biblical and mythic stories like this--filled with blood and guts and our senses?

Maude Lynn said...

Damn. This is amazing!

Helen said...

A showstopping pas de deux ~~ yes, we need (demand) and encore!!!

Lolamouse said...

A brilliant poem from two gifted poets! Let's hear it for synergy!

Sherry Blue Sky said...

Wowzers! Now THIS was an inspired collaboration. Loved every line - especially the shrunken heads, the pastries filled with bloody souls and grape jelly, the stone ground testicles in a jar and, even better, on toast.

A wizard of a concoction, like Kerry says, when two great planets collide!

my heart's love songs said...

well, f**k!!! this is right up there! waaaaaaaaay up there!!!

there are a few lines i know for sure are Shay's and i few i'm fairly certain would not be hers... but all in all, does it really matter when you're talking something as sizzling, sensual and repressed as this?

amen!

This is Belgium said...

special !

Audrey Howitt aka Divalounger said...

Wow--loved this collaboration---love the unexpectedness of the images and love where they took me-

Herotomost said...

I would like to thank Shay for being a wonderful writing partner...I think you are the bees knees...a posicle on a relly hot day....a shot of Jaeger after I have already had too much to drink (the only time Jaeger seems appropriate). Thanks to everyone for the kind words and Kerry for setting up the collabs again. Thanks every one!!!!!

hedgewitch said...

LTTP--but glad I made it in time for dinner--there are always a few leftovers in the stewpot, right? I see flashes of both authors' signature styles in this; the first two lines could only be Fireblossom, and that 'two miles in on a twelve mile spur' plays like a Mexican radio. Superb poem, very fired-up collaboration, where each voice feeds the other, as it were, without any cannibalism whatsoever.

Ella said...

Sorry I am late to the garden! Holy shit, this is freaking glorious and warped-I love it! I want it put to music ;D We need some toads to croak us a tune~ lol

Anonymous said...

so cool. k.

Sharp Little Pencil said...

Well, you two, the pastor's wife says, "ME LIKEY!" And believe me, missionary is the least favorite of our positions, wink.

So much wrapped up, it's like the two of you were playing badminton with a dead crow. You know what I mean, visceral, tinge of evil... but then again, sexy, so nix the dead crow... Amy

Peggy said...

This is an amazing creation and I cannot think how you two managed to do this. I think some of us other colabs will feel like going back and beginning again. You have set the bar way high!

Isadora Gruye said...

This is like Mary Magdelene of the bayou.......purrfect melding of styles here. I thought I could recognize the author of the Nipple Slip line. I am not sharing my findings.

I so appreciate the layers invoked here, and done with such simplicity at the same time. I best sharpen my crayons and consult my McGuffey reader.

Great work both of you!

Hannah said...

Oh my GOODNESS!! Perfectly paired. This in tandem piece knocks my socks off!! Excellent work you two...I just love the tone and surge of energy that's flowing here!! What a treat!!