ROMANCING
INFINITY
By Dr. Mel Waldman
One cool, soothing night,
nestled in an everflowing summer illusion
most days tasting a cornucopia of oppressive
heat,
I drifted into an unfathomable dream,
swept away in sweet phantasmagoria
an eerie interlude in a never-ending unreality
of decay,
for even on this calm, soporific night of cool,
sweat poured out of my olive skin,
like wild rain, unleashed & unalloyed
my whole being suffering in an apocalyptic
totality of pain
until in a beautiful metamorphosis
I became the corpse flower on this orphic night
oozing the stench of rotting flesh
& still, a gorgeous mammoth inflorescence
unbranched & growing/rising high into the
vastness
a phallic yellow or olive-green stalk
majestic spadix bathed in the River Styx
encircled with a deep purple or maroon spathe
a rare beauty romancing infinity
coming forth from decay
blooming for only 2–3 days
vanishing too soon
& returning years from now
but in this numinous dream
I, a corpse flower, died & was
reborn again & again in a microsecond of
infinity
Dr.
Mel
Waldman is a psychologist, poet, and writer whose stories have appeared in
numerous magazines including HARDBOILED DETECTIVE, ESPIONAGE, THE SAINT, PULP
METAL MAGAZINE, and AUDIENCE. His poems have been widely published in magazines
and books including A NEW ULSTER, CLOCKWISE CAT, CRAB FAT LITERARY MAGAZINE,
ESKIMO PIE, INDIANA VOICE JOURNAL, LIQUID IMAGINATION, THE BROOKLYN LITERARY
REVIEW, BRICKPLIGHT, SKIVE MAGAZINE, ODDBALL MAGAZINE, PABLO LENNIS, POETRY
PACIFIC, POETICA, RED FEZ, SQUAWK BACK, SWEET ANNIE & SWEET PEA REVIEW, THE
JEWISH LITERARY JOURNAL, THE JEWISH PRESS, THE JERUSALEM POST, HOTMETAL PRESS,
MAD SWIRL, HAGGARD & HALLOO, ASCENT ASPIRATIONS, YELLOW MAMA, THE BITCHIN’
KITSCH, SOUL-LIT, TWO DROPS OF INK, and NAMASTE FIJI: THE INTERNATIONAL
ANTHOLOGY OF POETRY. A past winner of the literary GRADIVA AWARD in
Psychoanalysis, he was nominated for a PUSHCART PRIZE in literature and is the
author of 11 books.
