[mignon ledgard]

Hello, Julie,

This is my take:

Incandescent carmine it seemed
the long and dazzling gash,
as a mouth afire and set free
in fresh eruptions of glee.

The simple explanation is just pointing to the eruptions of glee. But the first thing that came to mind was that someone's already ignited mouth was untied--I don't see lava anywhere. Not only that, but lava would steal too much attention from the watermelon. Poor watermelon, it even decorates the plate at the end.

When a woman (the watermelon is female in Spanish) 'está encendida, she is furious or otherwise 'on fire.' When she is 'desatada' she is loose, she is not behaving as per social convention - she is wild and unbridled, as I imagine this mouth saying all she wishes: all delight and pleasure and happy, it turns out. Rueda is somethin' else.. ha.

I would like to know what prompted you to choose this particular poem. I see it as a puzzle of fun for the author, who plays with the language. He makes it ambiguous and defeats the ambiguity at the same time. It is a very awkward read. Do you like puzzles?

Without a doubt your imagination is more active than most, something wonderful to be blessed with, indeed.

Thank you again for your comments on my little sonnet, and for the French chimney. I wanted to ask you if I should drop the accents from 'etagere' but didn't want to bump the thread..

~mignon