Tuesday, February 22, 2011

Wunderkammer

(based on suggestions from @johnnypurple, @kirsty_I and @suz_la)


Tiered cakes of rock, black chickens in the dining room

We slice open our hard brown bread to

Find a loaf of air tucked inside an egg.


Zoom in on mouths. There’s a mother to curate every quiver of lip.

I curl up inside them all like a clay child.

The curious noises of our teeth become trains, clickety clack.


A finger slipped along a screen

brings us to a curious place, a Hugh School.

A name that Wodehouse might have written.


Do they only teach children of a certain hue?

Or are all welcomed in a wide jellyfish hug

And led to brighter primary colours?


La parole nous a été donnée pour déguiser notre pensée

Speech was given us to (____) our thoughts.

I talk a lot, except in French lessons.


Our shade, as children, informs the stories we weave.

Every dog is a superdog, each case of nits is supernits.

We draw the letter ‘E’ like a fine-toothed comb.


Cheese slices pressed between hard brown bread

We slice open our dry-chaff schooling

To find a sheaf of wheat, waving at the sky.

______________________________________________

Today's poem is based on suggestions from three people:

  • @johnnypurple: "cheese? mothers?"
  • @kirsty_I: "Supernits and Superdogs" (Supernits are actually a thing)
  • @suz_la: "Hugh school french class." *pause* Next tweet: "High school even." (I prefer Hugh School. It's where we all go to learn to say "Pip pip!" convincingly.)

Also, I was watching Jan Svankmajer's film Faust last night, so there's a lot of odd images clacking about in my head. The picture at the top is a screen grab from that film - I wonder if that is a real place?

4 comments:

Rita (mademoiselle délicieuse) said...

That line reminds me of you sharing that, as a child, you used to write the letter E with as many "prongs" as you wished.

And I - well, I though those solar hot water heaters were retractable. Maybe someone could invent one?

Anna Ryan-Punch said...

Yes! I was talking about the multi-pronged E's of my childhood with friends yesterday. Then they reminded me of nit combs. Sort of cute and gross at the same time.

Mark Lawrence said...

OMG the coincidence! I was just searching the Wunderkammer store online yesterday, and here today you've got a poem with that title! SNAP!

Oh, yes. Also: lovely!

Anna Ryan-Punch said...

Haha - the universe is your wunderkammer!

(Also, thanks :D)