Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, MANHATTAN MALADY, by MARION DOYLE


Poetry Explorer

Classic and Contemporary Poetry

MANHATTAN MALADY, by                    
First Line: Subway-streptococci / tear through the entrails
Last Line: On that long-gone september afternoon?
Alternate Author Name(s): Doyle, Marion Stauffer
Subject(s): Islands


Subway-streptococci
Tear through the entrails
Of Manhattan: the island
Shivers with sudden ague,
Trembles with intermittent fever;
Its epidermis breaks with strange protuberances --
Wen and blister, furuncle and papulai --
(Can it be possible there is need to mention
The Proud Flesh?)

Who will isolate this devastating
"Micro-organism of a genus of bacteria
Grouped in long chains and dividing in one plane,
Causing erysipelas, etc.," and restore
To the embarrassed lady her school-girl-complexion
That so intrigued an old roue named
Hendrik Hudson
At their first rendezvous,
(Chaperoned by eighteen Old Salts!)
On that long-gone September afternoon?





Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!


Other Poems of Interest...
Home: PoetryExplorer.net