Almanac Poetry: Spleen
Spleen et Idéal, by Carlos Schwabe, oil on canvas, Fin-de-Siècle Museum, Brussels, Belgium. 1907. [Source: Wikimedia Commons]
Spleen
Spleen,
I want to vent it; got to
get that fist-like
bumpy bluish-red
rubbery organ
and show it to you!
Want you to look long and hard,
as it sits, warm and pulsing, in my hands!
If you’re appalled, I don’t really care;
in spite of the revulsion
of our sensibilities
and the gut-turning nausea,
the experience will do us
the world of good.
Have a look at my spleen!
I’m busting my guts
to show it to you!
(Acknowledgements: first appeared in Volition, 2003; then in my first poetry book, Vigorous Vernacular, Picaro Press, 2008, reprinted by Ginninderra Press, 2018.)
Read more from Kevin Densley HERE
Kevin Densley’s latest poetry collection, Sacredly Profane, is available HERE
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About
Kevin Densley is a graduate of both Deakin University and The University of Melbourne. He has taught writing and literature in numerous Victorian universities and TAFES. He is a poet and writer-in-general. His sixth book-length poetry collection, Isle Full of Noises, was published in early 2026 by Ginninderra Press. He is also the co-author of ten play collections for young people, as well as a multi Green Room Award nominated play, Last Chance Gas, published by Currency Press. Other writing includes screenplays for educational films.
That was speendid!
Thanks, Rick!
Posting the poem also gave me the opportunity to post a wonderfully evocative illustration from an edition of Baudelaire’s Les Fleurs du Mal, too.
Magnificently gutsy KD. You’ve got me thinking of Baudelaire twice with this post: 1) Paris Spleen and 2) the stunning pic from Les Fleurs du Mal, which includes one of my all time favourites ‘The Albatross’.
Thank you, DB!
Baudelaire remains one of those powerful poetic forces, doesn’t he?
Nice words, KD.
Thanks, Smokie.
W. H. Auden once described/defined poetry as ‘memorable language’ – hopefully, this one falls into that category.