Tuscany, August 3.
I fear for my sanity.
I have come to the vineyard
To escape my demons.
But they are here.
Hiding.
Waiting to reveal themselves.
My golden-haired beauty
Lies under a tangle of vines
Waiting for me
To slay my beasts
And join her.
I slash out with my knife.
My adversaries fall to the ground
Leaving their viscera
Impaled on bare branches.
Evil seeps from their entrails.
It mushrooms
Into an indomitable force
Which pursues me as I flee.
I stop.
Turn.
And look back.
My love opens her arms to my nemeses.
And then she is gone.
(Inspired by “Another Grapevine“, Friday Fictioneers on madison-woods.com, August 3, 2012.)
vb's reverbs 
Ah, I like this. I was thinking how good it would be for this week’s FF prompt, then I saw the picture… nice one.
Thanks for recognizing the source–I try to write my responses so they reflect the prompt but are not dependent on it.
A sad and sorrowful poem that lays bare human struggle. We battle ceaselessly until the end, when, weighed down by the image of all we love consumed by all we battle against, we, too, give up. Very evocative and full of warnings.
Aloha,
Doug
http://ironwoodwind.wordpress.com/2012/08/02/mcmurdo-countdown-objects-in-mirror/
Thanks for the sensitive response to my story. I have read your piece and your father’s story will stay with me for a long time.
How sad. It sounds as though he’s losing himself as well as his love.
I’m afraid he has lost both–now it comes down to a question of what was actually real in the first place (and that is not to say that things weren’t supposed to be real–depends on how you read it).
And if some or all isn’t real, he may have lost it anyway (whatever it is or might be), depending on how you look at it. Layer upon layer.
Very nice, great imagery, and a powerful theme. Well done.
Here’s mine: http://unexpectedpaths.com/friday-fictioneers/try-not-to-notice/
Many thanks! Read yours and hope it’s just a story not a prediction.
Ooh, a mysterious struggle and some powerful images here- especially the lover’s surrender at the end. I don’t normally like poetry, but this worked for me. Thank you!
I’m over at: http://elmowrites.wordpress.com/2012/08/03/friday-fiction-torment/
Thanks for the wonderful compliment–I enjoyed reliving some family road-trip horror stories with your interpretation of the diseased grapevine.
beautifully done
Many thanks! Like yours as well–Hope you’re healing quickly.
Great imagery for an emotional struggle.
http://www.rochelle-wisoff.blogspot.com/2012/08/wild-life.html
Thanks. Liked your “Wild Life” — powerful.
Such a loss to have her fade and not know if she was ever there. Beautiful poem..
Thanks for your nice comment–that’s true: the reality of her existence is supposed to be ambiguous and open for individual interpretation. Also, many thanks for following vb’s reverbs.