Un-Control

[Lumiere]

Today:
the sun rises like
Purple Pecking Mischief Boiled in Salt.

Grin until my mouth corners un-zip to show
bits of pink plato brain, until the slits
meet at the top of my head and
face falls cleanly off:
a grinning skull beneath.

A leaf is a flower!
A flower a circus made of paint!
KISS ME!
Or don't.
It makes no matter -
there is a kiss all the same.

To jump, to
never land again.
My argyle skin simply Ripples!

I am born of the
thigh of the forest, the
claw of a baby-water-bird,
a daisy's elbow.
I have never done a single thing
ever.
My soul - a blade of grass that
explodes
(when it doesn't dissolve).

Who am I?
I'm Spiderman.

[hillwalker]

A touch of the Captain Beefhearts.

The start is dreadful ('Purple Pecking Mischief boiled in Salt' sounds like a desperate attempt to be different).

But the second half is 100 times better and shows promise.

[D. J. R. Caron]

I don't get it. It sounds pretty, in a sort of absurdist way, but I don't get it. The closing line makes me think this might be meant to be parody, because it is just so sudden and absurd, but I'm not entirely sure. In any case, it has some really juicy and memorable images, like that bit in the second stanza about unzipping a smiling face. That's easily my favorite part.

[Il Dante]

I haven't the slightest idea of what this poem means. I loved this poem. It was enormously entertaining... except that whole bit about the face slipping off was a bit disturbing.

My favorite part is the last two lines:
Who am I?
I'm Spiderman!

I'm going out on a limb here trying to interpret this poem (which I 100% don't understand but very much enjoy); perhaps the speaker is insane? or delusional? The last two lines suggest this to me. If this interpretation is correct, then the whole thing is actually highly humorous, in a dark sort of way. It embodies the comical and ridiculous yet sometimes dark delusions of a mad-person.

But then again I could be completely wrong.

[Hawkman]

I'm with you Il Dante - although the, 'thighs of the forest' is an expression which will haunt me to my grave!

H

[hillwalker]

On re-reading this it conjures up images of some exotic flower blooming in the forest -
petals un-zipping themselves from the green buds to emerge as a grinning skull - or perhaps I am giving the poem more consideration than it deserves.

Still an intriguing piece as confirmed by the other comments already posted.....

[Lumiere]

Thanks for your insights everyone!

In all honesty, your guesses at its meaning are as good as, (sometimes better than), mine.

I hate to spoil a poem by talking about the process, (kind of like watching the "Behind the Scenes" for Lord of the Rings), so I'll leave it to you folks.
Besides - if a poem needs that much clarification to effect the reader, it probably isn't worth "explaining".

[MorpheusSandman]

I love surrealism, but I think this only works in spots. It's best when the imagery itself is evocative of surrealist imagery, like the second stanza. I've actually toyed with pure surrealistic autonomy and the results can be interesting, but I've concluded that it's best if reeled in and edited just a bit.

[blank|verse]

Enjoyably crazy.

I took it to be about Spiderman (the poem says as much!) - unzipping his mask; flying around in his 'argyle skin'; born in the 'forest'; looking like (in a brilliant metaphor) 'the claw of a baby-water-bird'... I'm just not sure about the leaf / flower / kiss bit! Never mind.

I know what hillwalker means about the third line, but I think calling it 'dreadful' is going too far; maybe if you just removed the capitals that would tone things down a bit.

[Il Dante]

As BV says, it's enjoyably crazy.

The poem is crazy; but it is crazy well. (Sort of like how E.B. White said, to paraphrase, "Be clear. But if you are going to be obscure, be obscure clearly.")

What I enjoyed specifically was the darkly humorous and darkly ironic playfulness to it all.