Chris Uggen's Blog: the black abyss of righteous hatred -- a darkly gothic poem generator

Friday, September 22, 2006

the black abyss of righteous hatred -- a darkly gothic poem generator

on this cool and rainy september evening, a certain sacrilicious and darkly sinister colleague passed along a link to the gothic poem generator.

my own poetry is dark as marshmallows, but i'm always willing to try. i selected #5 on the menu, the "black abyss of righteous hatred" option, which yielded this offering:

what you have done

what have you wrought?
a smothering indistinctness of misery as sentiments twist.
once we drank of innocence,
open and untainted,
but your desire drifted away.
a clouded pool of bitterness -
drops of blood follow darkness, follow rain,
love bled dry.
in a haze of sorrow,
i still love you.


hmmm. this feels more metal than goth. that is, clouded pool of bitterness and haze of sorrow strike me as more volume 4 than head on the door (don't believe me? try the lyrics with this versus this). to cleanse the palate, i tried a simple love poem generator. here's mine:

My Love

Your skin glows like the pomegranate, blossoms warm as the sunflower in the purest hope of spring.
My heart follows your guitar voice and leaps like a lizard at the whisper of your name.
The evening floats in on a great hawk wing.
I am comforted by your snap-front shirt that I carry into the twilight of shackbeams and hold next to my arm.
I am filled with hope that I may dry your tears of oil.
As my shoulder falls from my boots, it reminds me of your tin.
In the quiet, I listen for the last thrum of the day.
My heated neck leaps to my belt. I wait in the moonlight for your secret blacktop so that we may step as one, neck to neck, in search of the magnificient orange and mystical hood of love.

wow, this is much more difficult than making poetry from scratch. i ran into some confusion with the body parts on this one (my shoulder falls from your boots? my heated neck leaps to my belt?). that said, i think the orange and mystical hood of love works well with the secret blacktop and twilight of shackbeams imagery. i'm not sure which poem is scarier, but it is nice to have options.

if you dare to geek out and try this your own self, post the darkly sinister and/or fluffy marshmallow output as a comment. don't forget to choose an appropriate nom de plume -- i'd probably post as unlicked cub for the first poem but buck tenderness for the second.

6 Comments:

At 11:25 PM, Blogger Woz said...

I have a buddy who's very prone to wearing eye-shadow, and whenever anyone asks why he does it, we like to respond "because darkness envelops him." Thus the descending darkness seemed most appropriate.

"Darkness Descends"

the night falls as if slain by the sun, soulless are we.
the god for which you lust
flares once, then dies,
swallowed by the all-encompassing dark.
all hope must sicken and die.

your passion throbs no more.
how could you tear us asunder?
demons surround us, crying,
save us from ourselves.


"Tear asunder" sounds too much like a phrase from an 18th century political declaration, but otherwise, I certainly feel enveloped by darkness now.

 
At 12:07 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

The last lines of another generated love poem:

In the quiet, I listen for the last laughter of the day...I wait in the moonlight for your secret bed so that we may assail as one, eyelashes to eyelashes, in search of the magnificient blue and mystical heart of love.

 
At 12:46 AM, Anonymous jon keets said...

hey, 18th century political declarations are my all-time favorite political declarations.

i just wish i would have chosen eyelashes rather than arms and shoulders.

 
At 1:56 PM, Anonymous emily dickinson said...

I think I actually did write this in high school...

Alone in Darkness

the night falls in a heavy, suffocating cloak, cold and alone are we.
the salvation for which you sacrifice yourself
flares once, then dies,
swallowed by a velvet ebon nothingness.
all hope must surely perish.

your soul thrives no more.
how could you abandon me?
our dark emotions surround us, crying,
we are fallen.

 
At 4:57 PM, Blogger Jeff said...

Eek...I shudder when you present Inbetween Days as the representative of goth!

Let's try this again:

Faith
(excerpt)

Rape me like a child
Christened in blood
Painted like an unknown saint
There's nothing left but hope
Your voice is dead
And old
And always empty
Trust in me through closing years
Perfect moments wait
If only we could stay
Please
Say the right words
Or cry like the stone white clown
And stand forever
Lost forever in a happy crowd

No one lifts their hands
No one lifts their eyes
Justified with empty words
The party just gets better and better

I went away alone
With nothing left
But faith


Ahhh...cry like a friggin' stone white clown. No generator needed.

 
At 7:33 PM, Anonymous chris said...

nice, jeff. that one reads like joy division to me.

 

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