Sunday, January 2, 2022

Sandalwood and Onions

Here we have another poem from Clark Ashton Smith (CAS) that was unpublished in his lifetime, and is not available on The Eldritch Dark, so here's the complete text:


I kissed you once, 
And left in half an hour
Without kissing you again:
You have perfumed yourself with sandalwood,
And also, you had been eating fried onions
      For supper.
I like sandalwood,
And I like onions, too, 
      In their place;
But I simply couldn't stand the mixture!


This reads like something that CAS must have dashed off rather quickly following a meeting with a friend (or lover?).  It's no surprise that he chose not to publish this one, since it feels very casual and personal; the sort of thing that was never meant for public consumption.

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