Monday, June 7, 2021

Slaughter-House Pasture

Read "Slaughter-House Pasture" at The Eldritch Dark:

http://www.eldritchdark.com/writings/poetry/508/slaughter-house-pasture

This poem from Clark Ashton Smith (CAS) continues a series inspired by an abattoir located not far from CAS' long-time home in Auburn, California.  This one comes close to respecting the accepted structure of haiku in English, which is not always the case with CAS' "Experiments in Haiku" (a grouping short verse included in his Selected Poems (1971)).

Despite the grim subject matter, there's a real beauty to "Slaughter-House Pasture", as it contrasts the detritus of the slaughtered ("Horned skulls and boned hooves") with natural litter ("the fallen leaves"), creating a distinct sensation of the calm after the storm.

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