Pink fleshed and eight inches long
were fruit maidens
that hung from the tree in the secluded forest
of Thailand,
but can one be greater than unlawful desires?
How is it
that forbidden love always reaps disaster?
If a man was to pluck one from the tree, oh to indulge
in belligerent lovemaking
then prepare to hear the goblins cry,
sweet to the tongue and appealing to the senses
these maidens
in turn bereave one of his masculinity.
“Oh to taste the nectar that befalls from the tree,
would that the night reserve
in perfection
few such moments for me,” the brothers wander
with their heart set
upon acquiring possession of the fruit maidens,
unaware of the myth
and stories that were attached to the forest by villagers.
Until the wee hours of morning
the trees blew with the accompaniment of watchful wind,
“stay close,” he whispered
as a head raised on a coiled ribbon snake stared
in their direction,
just then a slender figure rose from the banks
of a misty river,
the villagers discovered two bodies stripped of blood
and glued to the tree a few days later.
Photo credits: Pinterest
Read here about the Nariphon legend from Thailand.
Posted for Poems in April @ Real Toads
Posted on Poetry Pantry @ Poets United
I have never heard this legend before – it is quite a more sumptuous and scandalous take on the Eden mythology. I enjoyed the tale immensely.
Thank you so much, Kerry 😀 so glad you enjoyed it ❤️
I love that you have chosen a myth completely new to me, Sanaa, and told it in rich and vivid colours. How romantic to have fruit maidens in a secluded forest and unlawful desires! But somehow fitting that the men who taste their nectar meet a dark and sticky ending.
Awww gosh! ❤️ Thank you so much, Kim 😀 so glad you liked it! ❤️
(and thank you for the lovely prompt) 🌹
Fantastic work! I had not heard of that legend previously either.
Thank you so much, Real Cie 😀 so good to see you ❤️
How beautifully you told this tale Sanaa. There are so many tales to learn of all over the world that can delight the reader (or listener). It is always fun to discover them.
Thank you so much, Robin 😀 so glad you liked it ❤️
Having read this, one can only say “More, please.” 🙂 Creepy and enthralling.
Thank you so much, Chrissa 😀 so glad you enjoyed it ❤️
Because it is an unfamiliar myth, it unfolds like a new mystery — firsthand and raw with all the latent power that can unfold in a ritual — and a poem. Well done.
Thank you so much, Brendan 😀 so glad you liked it ❤️
This is an amazing story which seems to parallel the garden of Eden, but so much more vivid… there is no way to stand against temptation
Thank you so much, Bjorn 😀 so glad you enjoyed it ❤️
This is a poem that tells an amazing and ominous story. I especially like the goblins crying, and when the snake raises its slithery head. Wow!
Thank you so much, Sherry 😀 so glad you liked it ❤️
Dark and scary but still sin and love. I like how you tie the two together in this tale and the ending – doom to those who love unlawfully.
Thank you so much, Toni 😀 so glad you enjoyed it ❤️
That ending made my eyeballs and heart wish for hands, so that they could cover themselves, and look properly shocked. On a separate thought, this just-born myth (dancing with the ancient well-known disaster) does such a good job at showing the horrors bred by certain thoughts and tales. I always wonder about stories that create something lovely, desirable, delicious… dangle said somethings in front of the eyes of wanting souls… and then say, “No, you can’t.” The torture. No wonder the end is almost always sealed with blood.
Thank you so much, Magaly 😀 so glad the poem resonated with you ❤️
reaping disaster alway, Is this a Sanaa Legend or one i have not heard before?
Thanks for dropping by my sumie Sunday
much love…
Thank you so much, Gillena 😀 so good to see you ❤️
much love…
Stunning—and disturbing—ending to this magical tale.
Thank you so much, MMT 😀 so glad you liked it ❤️
This is very haunting Sanaa. Captivating to read!
Thank you so much, Rob 😀 so glad you enjoyed it ❤️
Ooh! This tale is so rich in its portrayal of the forbidden fruit — there’s so something so wonderful about this tree-myth which also seems to me as the feminist parable of our times.
Loved this bit: “If a man was to pluck one from the tree, oh to indulge/in belligerent lovemaking/then prepare to hear the goblins cry,/sweet to the tongue and appealing to the senses/these maidens/in turn bereave one of his masculinity.”
It reminded me both of Keats’ La Belle Dame sans Merci and Rossetti’s Goblin Market. 🙂
Awww gosh! ❤️ Thank you so much, Anmol 😀 so glad you liked it! ❤️
Wow! What a legend and one that I had not heard before. You have done it justice with your poetic rendering of the story.
Thank you so much, Wendy 😀 so glad you enjoyed it ❤️
Wow. The 8 inches long got me right away and the ending shocked. I loved being so surprised.
Thank you so much, Colleen 😀 so glad you liked it ❤️
Oh, this is dark and wonderful!! I had no previous knowledge of the myth either. It does bringing a haunting suggestion to me of the garden of Eden.
Thank you so much, Susie 😀 so glad you enjoyed it ❤️
This is very evocative. If this is the prologue, I wonder what will follow.
Thank you so much, Mary 😀 so glad you liked it ❤️
Ouch…
Well Done!
Thank you so much, ZQ 😀 so good to see you ❤️
New to me too – and you have told it with just enough detail that we understand, and just enough mystery that we stay surprised and enthralled at the unfolding of the tale. That ending is startling in its bald horror, almost like a throwaway line – the tone perfectly judged, those facts needing no embellishment.
Thank you so much, Rosemary 😀 so glad you enjoyed it ❤️
A very interesting story, indeed!
Thank you so much, Rajani 😀 so glad you liked it ❤️
this is quite new to me, a Thai legend.
loved the way you weaved a heart-stopping poem from the legend. 🙂
Thank you so much, Lee San 😀 so glad you enjoyed it ❤️
Wow! Brutal.
Thank you so much, Sara 😀 so glad you liked it ❤️