Garden Bloggers' Muse Day--September 2009

The aubergine libertine in his green limousine

A libertine's green limousine was lately seen in Saint Vereen. The libertine wore aubergine. In Saint Vereen they're not so keen on aubergine. The party scene in Saint Vereen is all crepe-de-chine and gabardine, beauty queens and Charlie Sheen. The libertine in aubergine moves between these beauty queens: his feet careen from scene to scene, taking in the magazines, the tall Marines, the jumping beans, the snarling face of Charlie Sheen. The libertine leaves Saint-Vereen. Saint Vereen is not his scene. He likes a scene that's more serene.

Vals-en-Deen is just that scene. He sights the sheen of Vals-en-Deen. Its woods are green: are tourmaline. With carabine, he'll hunt that green, the libertine in aubergine. The birds that preen in Vals-en-Deen are not quite serene when there's been seen in their woodsy green the libertine in aubergine. His carabine for them spells "fin". But when libertines in limousines leave Vals-en-Deen for Saint Vereen, those birds that preen are quite serene.

Although the birds may vent their spleen, the libertine in aubergine suffers only improved mien when Vals-en-Deen is dimly seen from the dark windscreen of his limousine. Then, our heroic libertine, free at last of Charlie Sheen, of magazines, of beauty queens, of crepe-de-chine and gabardine, bounces like a jumping bean, a jumping bean on too much caffeine, decked out in cloth of aubergine.

--Maureen Thorson, Aubergine (Ed. Josh Corey 2004)

This poem was part of a meme that went around the Internet back in 2004. The challenge, thrown down by Corey, was to end a poem with the word "aubergine".

For more GBMD posts, visit Carolyn Gail at Sweet Home and Garden Chicago.