Cora W. > Recent Status Updates

"The seas that girdle the worlds: these were Ymir's blood and his sweat.
Look up into the sky: you are looking at the inside of Ymir's skull. The stars you see at night, the planets, all the comets and the shooting stars, these are the sparks that flew from the fires of Muspell. And the clouds you see by day? These were once Ymir's brains, and who knows what thoughts they are thinking, even now."

"Our rocks and pebbles, the sand and gravel you see: these were Ymir's teeth, and the fragments of bones that were broken and crushed by Odin and Vili and Ve in their battle with Ymir."

"Odin and Vili and Ve killed the giant Ymir. It had to be done. There was no other way to make the worlds. This was the beginning of all things, the death that made all life possible."

"It is said that at Ragnarok, which is the end of the world, and only then, Surtr will leave his station. He will go forth from Muspell with his flaming sword and burn the world with fire, and one by one the gods will fall before him."

"Loki is Odin's blood brother. The other gods do not know when Loki came to Asgard, or how. He is Thor's friend and Thor's betrayer. He is tolerated by the gods, perhaps because his stratagems and plans save them as often as they get them in trouble."

"Loki walks in the sky with shoes that fly..."

"Thor wears iron gloves, which help him to grip the hammer's shaft."

"As best as we can tell, the gods of Asgard came from Germany, spread into Scandinavia, and then out into the parts of the world dominated by the Vikings- into Orkney and Scotland, Ireland and the north of England- where the invaders left places named for Thor or Odin."

irascible:
adjective

having or showing a tendency to be easily angered.

Beauty Parlour Tips

"...
Trust the venerable Chinese to pander to horny pandas."

That's not even the worst line. This same, short poem also discusses chimpanzee sex then goes into "panda porn films". I'm not reading this any more.

House Fly

"Soulless bitch goddess blacklisted
..."

That's one hell of a way to start :/

Poem For Planet Earth

"...
the sightseeing's not up to much
unless you crave arid uneven terrain
a landscape unfit for a thirsty camel
Might as well peer into a Tandoori oven

..."

"...

High-tech NASA rubbish abandoned
on the Martian plains waits for archeologists
or scavengers from other galaxies
..."

Ok that was actually funny and amusing :)

Postcard From Moscow

"...
The rattling washer spins wildly
like a sex machine massaging
a naked brain with soapy water
..."

Why and how does he manage to throw something referencing sex into so many of his poems? They seem unnecessary most of the time and it's becoming tedious.

Mating Rites continued

"...
Nothing feeds on naked ass like love induced mosquitoes
..."


What did I just read and why am I reading this 😅

Mating Rites

"...
Jack Kennedy and Jackie did it once or twice
turtle-style on white hot sand in Florida Keys
..."

I rather dislike this poem.

The Economy In The New Century

"...
Who could pick a quarrel
with the bones of war
or stop free enterprise from
dipping into third world
populations for spare parts?
..."


He has some good lines at least.

If the author had included an explanation for each poem perhaps I could enjoy them more? I can't understand why I'm supposed to care about these poems. They don't feel as though they were written for others to enjoy, those who'll like them will like them and everyone else shouldn't bother. Were they simply not written to be relatable? Did the author forget to write in the bits that would allow others to understand?

"I was writing another epic poem
Concerning my obsession about dying in bed
When the undertaker rang the doorbell..."

I've figured out why so far I don't enjoy any of these poems. It feels like he's so focused on trying to be witty that there's hardly any soul actually in any of the poems. Some of the poems that do feel like they have feeling are also filled with what seems like inside jokes. So far not for me.

I'm having a hard time getting into it. So far the poems aren't my cup of tea. I can't remember why I picked this book up in the first place. I read about the author to see if he's even someone I would enjoy reading about what he may have written about. Then I skimmed the book and read a shorter poem. That poem seemed promising so I will continue to give it a go.

"'You don't pass or fail at being a person, dear.'"

"'You get on with your own life. Lettie gave it to you. You just have to grow up and try and be worth it.'"

"'She's been given to her ocean. One day, in its own time, the ocean will give her back.'"

...

"'Nothing's ever the same,' she said. 'Be it a second later or a hundred years. It's always churning and rolling. And people change as much as oceans.'"

"Somebody was humming a tune. I realized, as if from a long way away, that it was me, at the same moment that I remembered what the tune was: 'Girls and Boys Come Out to Play.'

... the moon doth shine as bright as day.
Leave your supper and leave your meat,
and join your playfellows in the street.
Come with a whoop and come with a call.
Come with a whole heart or not at all..."

spotted dick:
- traditional British steamed pudding, historically made with suet and dried fruit and often served with custard

skeins: plural noun
- a length of thread or yarn, loosely coiled and knotted.

"'And you really do have to give it all up if you want to play.'
'To play what?'
'This,' she said. She waved at the house and the sky and the impossible full moon and the skeins and shawls and clusters of bright stars.
I wish I knew what she meant. It was as if she was talking about a dream we had shared."

"I was no longer cold and I knew everything and I was not hungry and the whole big, complicated world was simple and graspable and easy to unlock. I would stay here for the rest of time in the ocean which was the universe which was the soul which was all that mattered. I would stay here forever.
'You can't,' said Lettie. 'It would destroy you."

"I wondered how I looked to her, in that place, and knew that even in a place that was nothing but knowledge that was the one thing I could not know. That if I looked inward I would see only infinite mirrors, staring into myself for eternity."

"I thought, This is the kind of water you can breath. I thought, Perhaps there is just a secret to breathing water, something simple that everyone could do, if only they knew."

I had to take a break after finishing that chapter. The author has really captured what it's like having an abusive father that you have to stand up to. I shouldn't have read this chapter in public. I need to take a bit of a break from reading it ♡