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The Forest, Max Ernst, 1927-1928


Portrait I (The Forest)

The sacrificial ritual for the razor-edged Selene^I begins.

Upon this labyrinth, the thickets whisper a conspiracy,
and then breathe an angry mist betwixt splintering fangs
of swinging, brushing, and turning. The tentacle-vines
whip and curl. A cyclorama of chirps^II, croaks, and calls
resonate a constant auditory reminder of a nightmare.

Each step is a barricade of thorns, roots^III, and fallen
branches. At the elbow-fold, a spider^IV-tickle flourishes.
A mortality-tantalizing carcass lies upon an unspecified
location spewing its nausea-inducing post-life stench.

The thicket thickens, salivates, and confines a prisoner.

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^I  Selene, the eye of night, void
   of presezeny¹, stares down
   upon the mass of chomping,
   oversized ground-fuzz.

^II  The battalion of crickets
    screech and threaten
    the brittle glass of sanity.

^III Like a serpent, the roots
   unearth, bingildamak²,
   and hiss.

^IV An arachnid clings to skin,
    and the yuptuka³ travels
    underneath the sleeve.

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Non-English Equivalents
¹ Presezeny - (Czech) - Stiff from sitting in the same position.
² Bingildamak - (Wagiman, Australian) - To quiver like jelly.
³ Yuptka (Ulwa) - sensation of a creepy crawler on the skin.