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Donall Dempsey Jan 2017
BROTHER BLUEBOTTLE

A bluebottle emerges
from a hedge

like an expensive and
repulsive flying jewel.

It settles upon
my ring finger.

I wear it with
fear and delight.

Its iridescence
bewitches.

This, the first
bluebottle I'd ever seen.

I thought they grew
in hedges.

I had a lot to learn.

It buzzes about
in my brain

as if 50 years
had not passed.

Welcome back
brother bluebottle.

It's good to see you
still alive.
Donall Dempsey Jan 2019
BROTHER BLUEBOTTLE

A bluebottle emerges
from a hedge

like an expensive and
repulsive flying jewel.

It settles upon
my ring finger.

I wear it with
fear and delight.

Its iridescence
bewitches.

This, the first
bluebottle I'd ever seen.

I thought they grew
in hedges.

I had a lot to learn.

It buzzes about
in my brain

as if 50 years
had not passed.

Welcome back
brother bluebottle.

It's good to see you
still alive.
Times when I was only two times two and learning to put the world together and coming up with 7 and a half.
Juhlhaus Jun 2019
Every now and then,
Someone lights up your world
Like breaking weather,
Scattering the clouds
And baptizing your soul
In a deluge of colors.

Every now and then,
Someone captures emotions
Like bluebottle flies
In a jar, only to release,
Too delighted ever
To pin them with names.

Every now and then,
Someone dares you to dance
With words or muscle memory,
And laughs with you
When flailing efforts prove
That you almost can.

Every now and then,
Someone glows like traffic lights
And points you to new roads
They've traveled on before:
Ways that part and meet again,
Every now and then.
Donall Dempsey Jan 2018
BROTHER BLUEBOTTLE

A bluebottle emerges
from a hedge

like an expensive and
repulsive flying jewel.

It settles upon
my ring finger.

I wear it with
fear and delight.

Its iridescence
bewitches.

This, the first
bluebottle I'd ever seen.

I thought they grew
in hedges.

I had a lot to learn.

It buzzes about
in my brain

as if 50 years
had not passed.

Welcome back
brother bluebottle.

It's good to see you
still alive.
A Mareship Aug 2014
Fourteen years old
and my life was a trap -
My ankle was caught
All red and ragged
In the jaws of an age-old machine
Designed to catch boys.
But there was a missing cog –
a little *****,
because there was a way,
(There was a way)
There was a way
to
get away…

College Library,
Domed and dark,
The silence disturbed by a bluebottle’s
Rumble
And the sly ticking of my own gold watch.
Oh! Getting high on the smell of
Other people’s universes,
Tissue thin and
Dogeared immortal -
Gotcha!
I’ve got 'em all!
You can’t contain me in these walls,
I can go an – y -where.

I can get drunk on Holden’s Highballs
Or Sebastian’s brandy,
I can weep at the grave of Ignatius Riley’s
Sexually inappropriate ****-fantasy dog,
I can neatly eat Prufrock’s peach
Or a dismal breakfast in a seaside caff
With Dallow and Spicer
And dear Rosaried Rose
With one eye on the sea and
Some lukewarm tea.
I can spend a season with my namesake,
Far away from Heaven,
And shake hands with Satan as he
Finishes a speech,
Wiping his mouth on a swollen
rock,
Hot as heaven and black as a leech.
I can walk that sheep on B612,
I can whip around the Second Circle
Of Hell
Or lock myself in a toilet
With Franny,
I can live in a garret with a garrulous ****** -
I can be East of Eden,
Wonderland,
I can die in Venice,
I can shoot soldiers in the sand,
I can lust after Lo – lee – ta
Tip of the tongue,
I can be a girl,
I can be a nun,
Blow into a conch,
Diffuse a bomb,
Digest my lunch,
Be a sub,
Be a dom,

I can sparkle here,
I can be free here,
I can just be here
And there are no rules here,

Just one boy
And a book
And a bluebottle
And a watch.

Aw dear -
What a flawed design for a cage!
unedited
Conor Letham Jul 2015
We own a pond;
mottled bluebottle,
flecked in freckles
when the sunlight
skims the surface
between the moss.

I dip a finger inside
and stir. A nebula
swills, swirling like
a whisk of spilt oil
from a water spot
sometimes found
underneath a car.

My fist plunges in,
embalming a gulp;
moss bandages
around the orb that,
withdrawing in drips,
I see a new world
set alight upon it.
Patina: noun
1. a film or incrustation, usually green, produced by oxidation on the surface of old bronze and often esteemed as being of ornamental value.

2. a similar film or colouring appearing gradually on some other substance.

3. a surface calcification of implements, usually indicating great age.
There was an old person of Skye,
Who waltz'd with a Bluebottle fly:
They buzz'd a sweet tune,
To the light of the moon,
And entranced all the people of Skye.
AMcQ Oct 2016
Stand me still in swaying grass
on the crest of a smooth esker.
Numb my ears to synthetic noise
so I can embrace the earthly chorus;
Green blades clashing swordlike.
The creak of trees, rooted in the battle.
The flip and twist of a passing bluebottle;
Awkward and disorientated.
Let me breathe deep the same wind
that lends herself to these instruments.
Let me hear the crackle of sun on skin;
The sound of hair electrified,
The thud of chemicals leaping across synapses.

Let me feel truly alive.
betterdays Dec 2014
beneath the daily noise
is the quiet sighing me
floating on a current
of poetic alchemy

i convert the grind
and bustle
into
calm serenity
and post the golden lies
on here, for prosperity.

and then with bluebottle
ink and jellyfish grace
i float away...
to write the insanity of another day..
leaving but a trace
of saltwater tears
in my chosen place...
Donall Dempsey Jan 2021
BROTHER BLUEBOTTLE

A bluebottle emerges
from a hedge

like an expensive and
repulsive flying jewel.

It settles upon
my ring finger.

I wear it with
fear and delight.

Its iridescence
bewitches.

This, the first
bluebottle I'd ever seen.

I thought they grew
in hedges.

I had a lot to learn.

It buzzes about
in my brain

as if 50 years
had not passed.

Welcome back
brother bluebottle.

It's good to see you
still alive.
Donall Dempsey Jan 2024
BROTHER BLUEBOTTLE

bluebottle
emerges
from a hedge

like an expensive
repulsive
flying jewel

It settles
upon
my ring finger

I wear it with
fear and delight
its iridescence bewitches

this the first
bluebottle
I'd ever seen.

I thought t
hey grew
in hedges

I had a lot to learn
it buzzes about
in my brain

as if
50 years
had not passed

"Welcome back
brother bluebottle
good to see you still alive!"
Donall Dempsey Jan 2020
BROTHER BLUEBOTTLE

A bluebottle emerges
from a hedge

like an expensive and
repulsive flying jewel.

It settles upon
my ring finger.

I wear it with
fear and delight.

Its iridescence
bewitches.

This, the first
bluebottle I'd ever seen.

I thought they grew
in hedges.

I had a lot to learn.

It buzzes about
in my brain

as if 50 years
had not passed.

Welcome back
brother bluebottle.

It's good to see you
still alive.
Edna Sweetlove Jan 2015
A fat young woman sat reading her graphic novel
(don't you love it that they call comic books graphic novels
nowadays so as not to offend the mongos who read them?)
- apologies apologies I digress from my narrative I fear -
her eyes followed the words slowly one by one
and her lips very visibly mouthed each syllable
as though such a pathetic process might help the meaning
to sink in at least partially to her poor addled half-educated wits
(in case you haven't worked it out by now I should explain
she was a bit stupid in fact much thicker than two short planks,
but I suppose that's an unkind thing to say really
but what the hell this is ******* free thought association
and stream of ******* consciousness isn't it?)

Bearing in mind that the poor fat cow had a brain
only marginally more adroit than a bluebottle's
she was doing quite well as she had after all
reached as far as page five after only two hours
when something marginally untoward occurred
as she suddenly felt a nasty pain in her tummy
and in some atavistic sort of way that realised she was on
the verge of having a miscarriage which was quite
a shock bearing in mind she didn't even know
she was seven months pregnant at the time
having been unable to read the birds and bees manual
she had been given as a present by her mummy.

But it was just as well taking everything into consideration
bearing in mind she was unmarried (surprise! surprise!)
and had no idea who the father might have been
as (how oh how can I put this delicately?)
she was totally the village bicycle having been ridden by everyone
including most of the teachers at the ******* folks home
where she lived in some squalor at state expense
but never mind as all's well that ends well
as her staggeringly brutal low-iq daddy would have killed her
for bringing shame on the family escutcheon
and because the downturn in the economy
meant that there was a three month wait for a bed
in the nearest mongo maternity ward
so she just kept on reading and would you believe it
she had reached page seven by the time
it was all over apart from the mess on the upholstery.
Georgia Goulding Aug 2015
The day is damp and quiet as I'd noted it usually is
at this time. My brown linen served purpose
of warming me from the wind that hushed
the house but I am leaving his mild comfort
for another.
The truth of the mirror shows my milky feathers
that I'd left on my face from sad infancy.

The kettle wails in an octave of steam and brass
and milk sloshes coolly into its capsule, fault
from my shaking hands - an impressive chip in one glass.
I watch London spin its television reruns
on the other side of the pane and challenge a stray cat
to a staring competition. Chewed ear and licked fur.

Across the lawns creeps the sure squint
of the rising sun and my tea is left unattended.
I begin to prepare
gathering towels from the cupboard, draping
them over my arm as though I am a huntsman.
The harsh material peppers my skin and I slap at it with disgust.
Like a bluebottle scuttling greedily
through the ***** hairs.
The trusted thickness works well as I cram
them against the slits in the doors.
Not even voices should seep through.
This was a play about - Plath's last day on earth told as she saw it to be. Normal in her eyes.
BROTHER BLUEBOTTLE

a bluebottle
emerges
from a hedge

like an expensive
and repulsive
flying jewel

It settles upon
my ring finger
I wear it

with fear and delight
Its iridescence
bewitches

this the first
bluebottle
I'd ever seen.

I thought
they grew
in hedges

I had a lot to learn
It buzzes about
in my brain

as if
60 years
had not passed

welcome
welcome back
brother bluebottle

it's good
to see you
still alive
hello bluebottle
sitting atop my canvas
shifting all around
what do your two red eyes spy
can you see me staring back
and what are you waiting for
all alone high above me
fidgeting and impatient
but of course you are quite right
to be so very careful
for that is a newspaper
rolled up in my hand
Choka
There I was..
Running about like a blue arsed fly.
Then I stopped
And wondered
Why?

Now
I'm taking it easy it pleases me no end.
I spend my days in that haze of being lazy
It's crazy..I know
But sometimes
You just got to
Take it
Slow.

I was never a blue bottomed bluebottle
(and throttle rhymes with that..but I'm not using it)
Life's not full of ****
Well maybe a bit but mostly it's good.
And I'm sure if you could and you can..
..come lay with me on the beach..get a tan
You ain't got to hurry..no worry..
I'll wait
Contemplate
And rest.
And I'm the best..
..at that.
Commuter Poet Sep 2016
A tired fly
Flew past my nose
Its buzz was low
Its speed was slow
It drifted through the heavy air
I know, I saw it go
On by

The cat was sleeping
On a chair
Just lying there
Without a care

Until the fly flew past her nose
To end her doze
The cat she froze

Her green eyes widened
And turned all cold
As cold as gold
If truth be told

The tired fly
Went buzzing by
The cat’s white nose
And I suppose
The cats intention
Was to try
And catch that fly
As it went by

Her paws ****** out
In desperate throttle
To try and ****
The winged bluebottle

The fly escaped
Its hum got higher
Its flight got faster
The cat chased after

Round and round the room they went
The cats neck bent
And furiously sent
The fly on high
Above sharp claws
As she flipped and pawed
The clever fly soared

Until at last
The cat did stop
And off did trot
Like she cared not

To catch a much less mobile snack
Her cat food sat
Upon her mat

The fly is drifting overhead
Its buzz all low
It’s flying slow
And watching out for battle two
When cat is through
With chewing food

And so it goes on every day
Some get away
Some like to play

The cat and fly
They both still try
To take their chance
In life's great dance
27th September 2016
Senor Negativo Feb 2017
New fallen snow on an icy road,
this path I stumble along.
I shake the branches,
I can't take any chances,
but still I fall beneath the serpent song.
Two weeks pure, sacrificed,
a single day to purge my vice
to lay my flesh upon the ground.
Two bluebottle flys, saved,
and two stinkbugs, revived.
Seeing the dead, curled up things
come back to life,
I am certain I will survive
any trials that might assail me,
in the frigid gray sky days to come,
before I finally lay this body down.
Yet another mediocre piece to add to my collection.
Star BG Sep 2017
Rock me to sleep crickets
with your grand night song.
The ones,
that makes stars shine
and moon radiate.
The ones
that gives peaceful dreams
a chance to root.

Take me
in your arms
oh lullaby,
so I may drift in sleep,
to vision sunshine days.

Rock me,
as night evolves to day
and light breeze
moves through window pane.

Gryllidaes,
small but loud.
Wrap my ears
with your musical berceuse.

The ones
that tickles inner ear
to match hearts warble.
The one’s
that play an original masterpiece
all its own.

Bluebottle of night
play on
like fine musician,
as I whisper smile.

As I,
drift
in world of sleep
with your blankets song
and my grateful heart.


StarBG © 2017
I couldn't sleep so I got up to write as I heard the crickets sing.
Donall Dempsey Nov 2016
USES OF GREAT LITERATURE

Bluebottle & I
share the same moment

. . .the same hour.

It keeps divebombing me
like some crazy kamikaze.

It is a beautiful flying jewel
but I can't appreciate that

just now and enraged I
throw Proust at it.

The full weight of A LA RECHERCHE
DE TEMPS PERDU

thrown halfway across the room
brings it down with a bang and

it is no more.

"Heavy!" I praise the Proust.

Ten minutes later its brother
or its ghost

has returned with a vengeance.

"Don't look at me!" says the Proust
"I done my bit!"

I raise the book and
the bluebottle bolts.

Just the threat of the Proust
works just fine...this time.
Seema Nov 2017
Flying over you, buzzing like crazy
Sitting over your nose, are you that lazy
Why do you not make me go away?
Why every of my mate has their own way?
I am sure you gonna spray us to ****
But you laying on the floor covered in blood spill
Your breath seems long gone
The night does no good as now we hit the dawn
The rotting smell of the blood on you
Attracts most of us insects not just few
Your open mouth has given entry for new
The ants lingering in your wide open eyes
Many races of insects feed, especially the flies
A thief had to die, one day
I'm sitting high looking at your body today
How aimless, humans are to **** each other
We are better despite abandoned by our mother
It was your fate you met few days ago here
No one is searching for, nobody knows you dead here
As rigamortis has taken its place upon you
It's obvious, we gonna hunt and feed on you
We only show up on such occasion
And deal with the dead bodies with passion
We come uninvited when someone dies
Yes, we are the bluebottle flies...


©sim
Fictional write.
Donall Dempsey Nov 2019
USES OF GREAT LITERATURE

Bluebottle & I
share the same moment

. . .the same hour.

It keeps dive bombing me
like some crazy kamikaze.

It is a beautiful flying jewel
but I can't appreciate that

just now and enraged I
throw Proust at it.

The full weight of A LA RECHERCHE
DE TEMPS PERDU

thrown halfway across the room
brings it down with a bang and

it is no more.

"Heavy!" I praise the Proust.

Ten minutes later its brother
or its ghost

has returned with a vengeance.

"Don't look at me!" says the Proust
"I done my bit!"

I raise the book and
the bluebottle bolts.

Just the threat of the Proust
works just fine...this time.
A bluebottle’s tale.
Flies, dark a biblical curse flew, over Alexandria
darkened the sky and hummed hell´s song.
This was not butterflies, in a summer glade.
A bluebottle got to a small hole in the window
they were bringing profanity upon the world.
I looked into its intelligent eyes a soldier drafted
to bring wars and hunger to the world,
(No, not a locust plaque that for its own sake
headless exists.)
to make wars and split nations into many pieces.
God had fated humans should remove each other,
he had made the error given humanity free will
and refused to be held responsible for this fault.
Since we are at the foothill of doom
His will be done.
A new breed of mankind, with small brains and no imagination.
of a Zarathustra or Jung, to give us the idea that we deserved
a better way to find harmony and everlasting niceness.
Jamesb May 2023
Once armoured and indeed
Once a fearsome tank
Of a man,
I strode across the battlefields
Of my life
Swatting trouble from the skies
Like flies from a sweaty face

No more bothered by trouble Than by a bluebottle
A man of certitude and confidence,
Capable of rising to meet and beat whatever
Life threw at me,

However it seems that love
Has become mine undoing,
My Achillies heel has been mine heart
And mine heart is breaking in pieces,
No more able to pump the blood
I need to live this life
About my walking corpse,

And so I'm shucking my armour,
The plate falling with a muffled thud
Upon the grass as each leather strap is loosed,
So strange to feel lighter as my
Weakness grows greater
And mine ending draws
Ever and certainly closer
Donall Dempsey Nov 2019
USES OF GREAT LITERATURE

Bluebottle & I
share the same moment

. . .the same hour.

It keeps dive bombing me
like some crazy kamikaze.

It is a beautiful flying jewel
but I can't appreciate that

just now and enraged I
throw Proust at it.

The full weight of A LA RECHERCHE
DE TEMPS PERDU

thrown halfway across the room
brings it down with a bang and

it is no more.

"Heavy!" I praise the Proust.

Ten minutes later its brother
or its ghost

has returned with a vengeance.

"Don't look at me!" says the Proust
"I done my bit!"

I raise the book and
the bluebottle bolts.

Just the threat of the Proust
works just fine...this time.
Johnny Noiπ Apr 2018
lost at sea lost in space lost on earth lost w/in
the belly of the pregnant Lorelei mating w/ a
great white shark her mermaid grandmother;
lusts for the sailors of the wide wide seas of
yore when every man had a boy & girls were
not allowed aboard cuz a woman is bad luck
at sea cuz once a month they drew sharks like
bluebottle flies on ****; like Harpies singing
in ur sleep; Sirens chiming in like a Gospel
choir; I hear the bleating of the white sheep
as I search for the golden fleece hanging from
the Joshua tree on the mound atop the mountain
atop the wooden crucifix carved by the hermit
who watches us from his foolish hilltop to the
bellows & gales of laughter from beneath the
blue where Neptune & Poseidon sport w/ Belle
in the waves; green & blue beneath the sun &
moon where sits a woman watching the waves
thrash & crash against the rocky shore; the ship
is lost & every man on it has disappeared w/ an
undersea wife; her tail flashing wet & green she
takes her man down to the deep where he is forever
grateful for the rescue from his mortal wife atop
the widow's walk looking for a ghost ship to emerge
from the mist never arriving; the sailor drowned
at sea beneath the watchful eyes of Moon Woman
for Moon Woman

— The End —