We who with songs beguile your pilgrimage / And swear that Beauty lives though lilies die, / We Poets of the proud old lineage / Who sing to find your hearts, we know not why ... (James Elroy Flecker)

19.8.20

I am the deep subterranean ...

I am the deep subterranean ...  

I am the deep subterranean

Goddess of the Magenta Ray,

the glow in the musical dark

of unknown chords echoing

from hidden instruments.


A Lady of no name still known,

or not known yet, I come

to haunt your dreams as if

I were either enemy or lover —

perhaps they are the same.


But I am not the same as 

anything ever encountered

in the white-hot distance

of your furthest imaginings,

or the up-close immediate now.


What do you name me? Dread 

or longing? Beauty or sorrow? 

Misty lies or luminous truth?  

Useless to scream it into my kiss.

I swallow screams for dinner.



This mysterious being started speaking through me about two weeks ago, bit by bit, with days between the arrival of each verse and sometimes even between sections of verses. (Composing so slowly and intermittently is highly unusual for me.) Then Magaly's Weekly Scribblings #33 prompt at Poets and Storytellers United – to use a line of poetry by C. Sandlin: 'swallow screams for dinner' – seemed as if it belonged to this poem. And so it proved; it gave me my final seven lines! Thank you, Chrissa and Magaly.

17 comments:

  1. Well that was completely unexpected and beautiful, Rosemary! Especially:
    ‘the glow in the musical dark
    of unknown chords echoing
    from hidden instruments.’

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  2. This poem really shows such strength and confidence in the narrator.

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  3. I love it when the perfect inspiration just arrives. Yes, this really ties it up the previous verses so perfectly. It's a strong portrait of cthonic power personified.

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  4. Have I told you how much I love your strange? I love the speaker's voice, her certainty, the way she informs the subject that she has arrived for good or ill... the decision is yet to be made. I also love how much the style of the poem, especially the last two stanzas brings to mind Chrissa's style. Your poem shows one of the things I love most about her poetry: One rarely goes where it's going, but one is so pleased once there.

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  5. Such a wonderful write! I love each stanza and how each of them is strong enough to stand on its own! Perfect pairing of you and Janis to complete the poem.

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    Replies
    1. Thank you!
      (You mean me and Chrissa. You must have just visited gila mon, who invoked Janis.)

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  6. This is so vivid I feel like I could watch and read at the same time. And that is a powerful speaking voice.

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  7. This is simply poetic excellence, Rosemary. It requires re-read after re-read!

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  8. Wow! I don't know what to say except this is awesome poetry!!!

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  9. "What do you name me?" is wide open for the unexpected. I like the thought, I like your answers but I'll never ask it. Nice write, Rosemary.
    ..

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    Replies
    1. Thank you, and I'd love to know who you are. (Smile.)

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  10. Could you dream a little quieter please? My sleep is being disturbed :)

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  11. She is the goddess she rules her realm

    (✿◠‿◠)
    much love

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  12. Deep, mysterious - not exactly blessing or curse - yet.

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  13. This sounded like your Goddess of the Magenta Ray was more than a dream, even though it became a recurring one. Google knows no such goddess so she will remain unknown.
    Now, the BIG QUESTION , is this real or a piece of fiction? On mine I have labels "true" or "Fiction", those help my readers, especially when my post sounds so real that it actually is real. Especially if I use first tense for them to read.
    ..

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    Replies
    1. Interesting question, in the light of my note following the poem. Let's just say the note is not fictional.

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