Pele



A volcanic divergence  
Distinct shadows contrast to
Blinding light as
Kilauea licks her lips,
Clears her throat like an MGM Lion,
Growls like a dirty guitar.

Magma bubbles burst—
Erupt in glowing fountains,
Pele’s dismembered liquid limbs
Falling into salt waters,
Clutching molten land mass—
Really, any solid territory—
With smoldering blood-red fingernails,
Embers that boil, bake, or brand
Whatever—whoever—
Stands in her path.

Pele’s punctured palace
Proudly ruptures eardrums,
Roars with the fury of
Collapsing calderas, as the
Hawaiian cataclysmic flow advances
Like Krakatoa, West (not East) of Java.
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Submitted on October 27, 2019

Modified on March 14, 2023

27 sec read
50

Quick analysis:

Scheme AXXXXX XXXXXXXXXX XAXBXB
Closest metre Iambic tetrameter
Characters 606
Words 90
Stanzas 3
Stanza Lengths 6, 10, 6

Sterling Warner

A Pushcart Prize Nominee, Sterling Warner’s poems and short fiction have appeared in dozens of international literary magazines, journals, and anthologies such as FLATBUSH REVIEW, SCARLET LEAF REVIEW, and STREET LIT: REPRESENTING THE URBAN LANDSCAPE. Additionally, Warner also has written SIX (6) collections of poetry: WITHOUT WHEELS, SHADOWCAT, EDGES, MEMENTO MORI: A CHAPBOOK REDUX, RAGS & FEATHERS and SERPENT'S TOOTH: POEMS (2021). In August of 2020, he published MASQUES: FLASH FICTION & SHORT STORIES. more…

All Sterling Warner poems | Sterling Warner Books

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