After Bataille

~ Cakeordeath
Illustration for Madame Edwarda by Georges Bataille-Kuniyoshi Kaneko-1976
Illustration for Madame Edwarda by Georges Bataille-Kuniyoshi Kaneko-1976

As the tiger is to space,
So sex is to time,
Apparition of savage grace,
The prelude to crime,
A loss of all face,
A rending tear in the fabric
Stitched together by some joking maverick

Demented demiurge blind
And paralytic:
The only thing on your ravaged mind
Syphilitic,
Is where to find
The pot to piss and shit in
Which is, all things considered, rather fitting.

We’re near the limits of the I,
But I is another,
A discontinuity of cries,
All passion is other,
Into the emptiness we sigh,
Signs descend into parody,
Eggs eyes and testicles a chain of analogy.

I meet God, a lazy whore
Lolling on a bed,
Don’t you want some more?
As she opened her legs she said:
I needed her tender and raw
So I could penetrate the mystery,
Plumb the void of the coruscating divinity.

27 thoughts on “After Bataille”

    1. You know how to flatter the King of Cats. I hope the rhyme works. I obviously have been reading too much of Bataille’s morbid, sensationalist writings, hopefully I have done the debauched librarian justice.

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      1. To say the rhyme works would be a flagrant understatement Mr. King of Cats! It’s rather amusing that Bataille was a librarian, one can’t judge a book by the cover. Well done Mr. C, splendid.

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      2. Thank you Miss Heart, I am not sure it would a flagrant understatement but I will take it. Almost unbelievable that Bataille was a librarian, medievalist and numismatist, but there you go. You can’t tell from The Story of the Eye or Madame Edwarda.

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      4. The afterword for The Story is genuinely Grand Guignol out there bizarre terrifying chilling reading. How much is real or invented or dramatised is hard to tell, but jaw dropping confessions either way.

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  2. A experiment with rhyming, so unusual for you. I like the pattern – unpredictable. Although I must admit being a little bewildered by the themes… I do recognize some of the references. Very clever and imaginative. Bravo sir.

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    1. Almost a first for me, rhyming. The pattern is ABABACC. The main references are Bataille’s The Accursed Share, The afterword to The Story of the Eye, The Solar Anus and Madame Edwarda. I don’t necessarily agree with Bataille but I am undoubtedly fascinated by his nihilistic mysticism and the elegant expression of his vision.

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      1. I saw The Story of the Eye (eggs, testicles, eyes) but don’t know enough about the others to pick up the clues. And yes I got the pattern, too. The CC is a nice touch. Not sure if I want to read Bataille or not!

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      2. The complete text of the Solar Anus is on here somewhere. The Accursed Share is about the general economy while Madame Edwarda is about a drunken spree that leads to an encounter with God. He covers a lot of topics and is an elegant stylist.

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    1. Thank you Marina, maybe I read too much of Bataille on the bounce which led to this poem. Glad you think it was in Bataille’s spirit. I would be interested in seeing the artwork you created inspired by him, maybe point me in the right direction? I have a number of posts on Bataille and the magazine Documents somewhere here. Thanks for the comments!

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      2. Thank you Marina. Bataille is quite grim but fascinating. I will check the links and send you some of mine. I see that you have a series called As Above, So Below….a subject that is also dear to me.

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      6. Thank you for the links and no, you are not ‘testing my patience’ at all, au contraire, I look forward to checking all of them out… during the weekend with a little bit clearer [she hopes! ;-)] head! 😉

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