Hurl Forth I My Heart
in striding sweeps
it breaks,
it dangerous gall ah gash
from in
in
in
he makes this gold, drawn
here
then thee themselves are
air
air
brute embers high
& from & in as king-
doms fall bleak,
Dear Heart
vermillion dawn
my plume, my shine
rebuffed
See !
I do not possess these blushing
adornments :
his gentleman’s tail tipped
bright with crimson
But do you?
We have not time to tell
how very pink the blossoms are
A Bird Daylights Beneath a Cloak of Mists
tiny silver tongues cluster like tendrils
heavy with perfume Dark pupilled-eyes
in fulvous orange, burning & burst-
ing, lashed to my follies
my lips grown pale
with the anguish of exile –
A death-blow to decadence
A binding fold turned in on its absence
Dear Tongue
Dear Toad, my Pretty Poll,
Cock Robin
my bright-winged birds o Blessed Thing
[ The quiver of her hand as she
lifts up her skirt
cuts a square inch of
flesh ]
Masks of green. Velvet masks of the heads of birds with
feathers of gold & peacock eyes
I carried my bird like it was a jewel
singing,
singing
Bloodied &
Having Only the Folly but not the privilege of youth
having been in my sick bed
my hand is caught
Let me know thee
let me know thee even as I am known
For Prodding or Pricking or Whipping or Cutting
For instruments of Pleasure
For making a Hole
her violent slit mimicked my lips
& so it was
l’amour de la mort
la mort de l’amour
Then kiss that image upon his mouth
Then kiss my mouth, impure with memory
Tous les Chevaliers dans la Forêt
their slender hands stretching towards each bulbous stem / parallel-
veined
[ o handsome fellows ! ]
round and round another curls
ever tightening
until both rearing upwards like snakes, dripping with odours
beneath the sombre eyes & mouths
too cruelly undone
my long tongue forces its head under the arch
the eye follows into silence
up and down, round and round, forward and backward
enclosed in your rapacious maw
Download Émile’s poems with juvenilia here.
Émile Herm is a poet and illustrator born in Mendoza, 21 August 1972. Their work explores the ephemeral nature of the human condition, examining the tension between interior and exterior selves in which narratives are synthesised into a single or unified entity.
Mendoza aka Linus Slug: Insect Librarian is a Northumbrian poet of multiple identities. Mendoza’s publications include: “WINDSUCKERS & ONSETTERS: SONNOTS for Griffiths” in collaboration with Peter Manson: Materials, 2018, ‘science in poetry : poetry in science’ collaborative broadside with Peter Manson, Sheffield University 2015, & “Type Specimen: An Observant Guide to Linus Slug” Contraband, 2014. Visual poetry can be seen in Tentacular #1, & [as Pat Phaggs] in Datableed #9. Their poetry can also be heard at the Archive of the Now.