i wrote this; it is a poem
In This Wise Did He Appear
like an angel, flying, dragging his feet
as if between two worlds he must weigh all things
between the sky to reach and the ground to meet
I am two halves a man and incomplete
like a minotaur: a monster and son of kings
like an angel, flying, dragging his feet
or a king that is thrown from his royal seat
whose seven years of feathers have not yet become wings
between the sky to reach and the ground to meet
two voices for my voice compete;
it wrestles between the songs it sings
like an angel, flying, dragging his feet
what the earth comes down to is a prison on Crete
on the horizon I search for the strings
between the sky to reach and the ground to meet
though clayfooted, and kicking through the street
yet my seven years to the wind still clings
like an angel, flying, dragging his feet
between the sky to reach and the ground to meet
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5 comments:
nice poem, phil.
and your blog is growing, expanding, ripening...
...aw thanks girish. takes a few posts to get the hang of this blogging thing. just keeping the writing joints well-oiled and moving, that's all.
because i'm an obsessive note-giver for all of my poems:
the title comes from 'the Frenzy of Sweeney,' from a line in the text that introduces Sweeney, an irish king. he is cursed by a monk, and becomes a wandering madman -- a crazy birdman actually, doomed to float around pursued by friends and enemies as punishment for his pride.
the speaker of the poem references similar stories, one of which is the story of king Nebuchadnezzar, who was also cursed to become a madman, and whose hair "grew like feathers" all over his body...this for a reason similar to Sweeney's punishment...seven years was the duration of his madness.
very cool.
the notes are much appreciated.
i actually wanted to ask you for them but didn't want to offend. (didn't want you to think, "what, you can't appreciate my poem on its own, without annotation?") :-)
please see Howl's Moving Castle
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