henri rousseau a carnival evening
i walk the length and breadth
of the landscape of myself
carrying a lantern
fueled by the wishes and memories
of long dead stars
i tell the stories of their wishes
with love
because each star
so needs to be remembered
that when i open my eyes
to this world
i can feel their wistful flowerings
passing through the soft mouth of my being
i speak the words
of their stories
with care
full with the knowledge
that each breath that passes my lips
and forms into sound
has not only passed through every living thing
before me
but was birthed in the body of a star
i write the words
of their stories
knowing
that each word that passes through my fingers
has been written once before
in the turbulent calligraphy
of solar winds blowing
across the far reaches
of this universe
and somehow
knowing
that wishes bloom best
in the soil of timelessness
their roots have reached deeply
into my own desires
strength and stillness
each an expression
of the knowing of my purpose
to tell the story
in fullness
of the colour and scent
of each star
as it blooms
once again
in the landscape of myself
the music i'd like to share alongside or despite these words
is by david sylvian and robert fripp.
the piece is entitled "wave"
so much of the work i took on as a thirty three year old man began with my learning about similar work these men had taken on through their direct and indirect connection to j.g. bennett ... and then so much else.
this poem previously appeared in an almost similar form on my friend terresa's blog
26 comments:
This writing is fresh and refreshed each time I read it. I read it at Terresa's and was so moved. Now, reading again it's new. While it has one theme, there are so many layers (and stories) that bloom. Reading it while listening to "Wave" is a beautiful experience. I just love that guitar.
ruth thankyou. i've rewritten little bits of it. there's something it wants to say and there are too many words in the way but i'm still in love with the words and so i can't cut it closer to its essence. the guitarist is robert fripp. thanks for your supportive comment. steven
i really enjoyed this...the image of walking with the lantern the landscape of yourself is easily visual and the telling of stories is my fav thing...
hi brain and thankyou. i also love stories a lot. telling them and hearing or reading them. my hope is that one day the stories will flower enough to share here in full. steven
This is beautiful and moving, the idea of walking as a journey and the idea of the interaction with the landscape and this interaction coming out as stories is wonderful. I loved this.
Oh, this is nice and gathers strength as it goes. I love the star bodies and solar winds, as well as the sense of one-ness with these things that you've created here.
turbulent calligraphy
of solar winds blowing
Mmmm.... Oh to write calligraphy like that! :)
beautiful imagery. and rousseau...love his work.
The imagery of this is beautiful, Steven.
A beautiful combination of words and images and of course I could not resist that moon!
steven, when i read the poem in terresa's blog, loved it. It's melodious, the sound of words, the stars, the scent of flowers, all in perfect complicity.
The music vibrates within us and accompanies in this landscape. Just perfect!
oa.s
radcliffe - i'm also thinking about the very small of me and the very large of the all and everything. the stories we create - who are we creating them for or what? steven
fireblossom thankyou for sensing the energy growing through the course of the piece. i can sense that also and it's part of the distancing i'm hoping to get from the piece over time so that i can reveal all its strength through some judicious editing!!! steven
ahhh jinksy - i waxed poetic there didn't i. but the more i read about dark matter and the closer we get to the big bang . . . the more excited i get about being solitary only me. steven
ellen - i love rousseau's work. it's seriously playful. steven
weaver thankyou . . . i am always so glad to bring beauty into anyone's life! steven
thankyou very much valerie. the moon hovers so beautifully in the painting doesn't it! steven
oa.s, i've made some slight changes in wording and content to reflect the changes in understanding i have in why i needed to write those words. steven
Steven, coming across poetry like this is truly a feast for the soul of me. Thank you!
Fueled by long-dead stars, so true.
LOVING your poetry, whooohooo.
your writing is a gift from the stars...to write such as you do is an awakening for all who are lucky enough to find your words...i am speechless, so moved by your poetry...it makes being a part of onestoppoetry ever so worthwhile...i came here to learn and i am delighted to find such wonderful poetry...thank you...
The best poems are the ones that have the power to shift the way we see the world and incline us to greater kindness, empathy, and care. Reading this poem over on Chocolate Chip Waffle had that effect on me, and now, more than a week later seeing it again here amplified its effect. Listening with Wave playing in the background adds another dimension of timelessness. Thank you, steven.
hello jannie - thanks for the excellent energy!!! steven
janice - thankyou. i like that play on the words. i came across one-stop poetry recently and i am so fortunate to be a part of an emerging writing community filled with generous creative people such as yourself. thanks. steven
dan i've reworked little bits of it and there's more to come and more to go but i am so grateful for your generosity of spirit and the kindness of your words for this writer taking his first steps towards really thinking about what needs to be said!! i'm glad you enjoyed "wave". steven
Ohmygoodnessgracious, Steven. I thought that I had written to you yesterday about how lovely the thought of "being birthed in the body of a star" is, and how poignant it is to tell the stories of their wishes with love, because they deserve to be remembered and all. You know what I'm going through, and that I can feel the fullness of personal history right now.
I meant to also tell you how absolutely I adore the fragile beauty of the Rousseau painting, how alive the nightscape looks!
Then, I suddenly became lost in the music of Sylvian and Fripp, and spent so much time listening and finding more and listening yet longer, that I eventually forgot that I had not written my comments down yet!
Stop confusing me with the blinding light of beauty, okay?
jo! i laughed when i read this . . .for several reasons. first for happiness that you followed the threads of music that emerge from david and robert's music. it's a rich luxurious beautiful thread that i have lived inside for over twenty years. the next, that you also enjoyed the magic of the rousseau painting. i would love to have spent time in his head. finally, that you connected the poem which is about the connectedness of all things in our sharing of energies, our birthing of beauty that has been born over and over. you need beauty in your life because you hand on so much of your own. so here's some more. steven
Post a Comment