"A Wet Moon, Putney Road" by Grimshaw‘Lunatic’: A Poem by Peter Venable The Society August 17, 2024 Beauty, Poetry 4 Comments . Lunatic Paused at a churchyard when it’s eventide I see flit by a bright blue butterfly. Magnolia fragrance wafts through the twilight. Somewhere I hear a distant whip-poor-will. Although the air is warm, I sense a chill. As I glance up, something is not quite right. I feel a gust that comes and quickly goes. And swish again! The airborne strangeness grows. The whoosh of wind is whirling through my head. A portal opens wide; two figures race And battle in this graveyard’s dimming space. The one, the darker shape, has eyes coal red. The other like moon light has a silver glow. He draws a flaming sword and strikes a blow— The other whines and vacates from the yard. The silver specter smiles and sheaths his sword. He vanishes! I am completely floored. Did I hallucinate? The air smells charred . . . . . Peter Venable has been writing poetry for 50 years. He has been published in Windhover, Third Wednesday, Time of Singing, The Merton Seasonal, American Vendantist, The Anglican Theological Review, and others. He is a member of the Winston Salem Writers. On the whimsical side, he has been published in Bluepepper, Parody, Laughing Dog, The Asses of Parnassus, and Lighten Up Online (e. g. # 48). NOTE TO READERS: If you enjoyed this poem or other content, please consider making a donation to the Society of Classical Poets. The Society of Classical Poets does not endorse any views expressed in individual poems or commentary. CODEC Stories:Share this:Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)Click to print (Opens in new window)Click to share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window)Click to share on WhatsApp (Opens in new window)Click to email a link to a friend (Opens in new window)Click to share on Pinterest (Opens in new window) 4 Responses Jeremiah Johnson August 17, 2024 This is a fun vision! Vaguely reminds me of The Red Cross Knight and some of his adventures in the Faerie Queene. Great photograph pairing on Evan’s part too! Reply Peter Venable August 17, 2024 :), J. J. Reply jd August 18, 2024 Yes, a clear vision (not fun for me though) expertly painted and entirely possible IMHO. Reply Joseph S. Salemi August 19, 2024 This could be read as the hallucinatory vision of a lunatic, or as an allegorical dream-vision in the medieval tradition. The two fighting figures in the churchyard would seem to be the Devil (dark, with coal-red eyes) and St. Michael the Archangel (with a silver glow and a flaming sword). The Devil is defeated and flees, and the victorious Archangel sheathes his sword. Reply Leave a Reply Cancel ReplyYour email address will not be published.CommentName* Email* Website Captcha loading...In order to pass the CAPTCHA please enable JavaScript. Notify me of follow-up comments by email. Notify me of new posts by email. Δ This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.
Jeremiah Johnson August 17, 2024 This is a fun vision! Vaguely reminds me of The Red Cross Knight and some of his adventures in the Faerie Queene. Great photograph pairing on Evan’s part too! Reply
jd August 18, 2024 Yes, a clear vision (not fun for me though) expertly painted and entirely possible IMHO. Reply
Joseph S. Salemi August 19, 2024 This could be read as the hallucinatory vision of a lunatic, or as an allegorical dream-vision in the medieval tradition. The two fighting figures in the churchyard would seem to be the Devil (dark, with coal-red eyes) and St. Michael the Archangel (with a silver glow and a flaming sword). The Devil is defeated and flees, and the victorious Archangel sheathes his sword. Reply
