Stories and poems

"The metaphoric image of 'orphan lines' is a contrivance of the detached onlooker to whom the verbal art of continuous correspondences remains aesthetically alien. Orphan lines in poetry of pervasive parallels are a contradiction in terms, since whatever the status of a line, all its structure and functions are indissolubly interlaced with the near and distant verbal environment, and the task of linguistic analysis is to disclose the levels of this coaction. When seen from the inside of the parallelistic system, the supposed orphanhood, like any other componential status, turns into a network of multifarious compelling affinities.'
Roman JAKOBSON, "Grammatical Parallelism and its Russian Facet", Language, 42/2, 1966, pp. 399-429, p. 428-429

Thursday, December 18, 2014

Ace of Wands

Oh yeah, I write poems. I haven't in a long time, or I do and then I put them away and I don't think about them. But today a tarot card inspired me and this came out and I shared it with a friend and then I thought, it wants to go out wider, so I'll send it on its way.

I'm back again with Philology, describing the 12th century Quedlinburg tapestry. This somehow takes a long time. Maybe because I haven't seen it in a long time, maybe because it is hard to understand how to understand these figures from another time. Still, I love them. You can look at them. 

I'm about seven pages from really finishing this chapter I've been writing for so long, but I feel stuck and haven't made much progress for a few days. I have been correcting too, and this makes every word feel weighty, as though you don't want to let it get away and it must be just right and it can't be.

Anyways, I got the reversed ace of wands, thinking about a situation I am unsure about. I really like my favorite deck's image, Golden Tarot, an angel with a flower and a wand, and a book at her knees, and the fire behind.

I looked at this one when I wrote the poem, from the Holy Light deck, but the other one was there too, in my mind, since I've looked at it so much :

There is the flame and the branches and the leaves, a good message for the winter solstice.

Ace of Wands

I’m stretching myself up,  
I’m getting taller,
I’m alone, but I have branches
leaves, I’m fueling energy
for growth, I like the way
I feel, I want to continue
this journey, I want to heal.

Reversed, I’m not reaching out,
I’m looking in. Inside
is the answer I am looking for,
though I doubt myself sometimes.
Though I am silent, I am not
ineffectual. I take action through
no action, I feed objectless desire.

There is a spark inside me that is ready
to burst into flames. Watch out or else
you might get burned. It’s all new and
waiting. This fury will become
something good, with time, this rod,
stick, wand, will grow in two directions,
both up and down, so hold on.  

May all of your darkest nights be bright!