2006 IMBOLC/LUGHNASADH LONG POEM ENTRIES

[Ruthie]

This poem is a joint entry between myself and Dog.
It was written during the Midwinter doldrums we both go through, and was both enlightening and entertaining, but most of all, a very enriching experience to write together. We hope you enjoy reading it as much as we did writing it.

The Promise

The clan stand round the sacred stones,
Hand in hand on winter's night.
Cold wind sucking at their thoughts,
Would all their prayers soon come to nought?

Crow caws hoarse as the frosty air bites,
The trees are silent as dead men's bones,
Clouds of breath before each face,
all hopes pinned to starry space.

The King is dead, on his own sword,
His blood ran fertile o'er the land.
To bring the resurrected babe:
to bring new life; his people, save.

Summer breezes, golden corn,
Lazy streams kiss gentle stones.
The bee, the opulent dragon-fly,
Majestic hawk circling high.

Long rosy dusks and fruit full ripe,
Tall grasses hide a lovers' tryst.
Musical eves pass pleasantly by
with peeping toads in fields of rye.

In sultry honeysuckle air,
Kingfisher claims his silv'ry prize.
Golden, blazing, orange eye,
Resplendant, hangs in azure sky.

Tears run down each desperate face,
Praying for thier King's return.
Fearing this winter lasts forever,
Dying in this cruellest weather.

Costumed shaman leaps and whirls,
The women wail, men beat the drum.
Pristine snow, now crimson stain'd
in grotesque shadows cast by the flames.

But then the first small rays are seen,
Our Mabon's returned to rule again!
Once more our land will grow and awaken,
Our hope, His promise, remains unshaken!
-------
Dog & Moon Cloud

[Underground River]

The Challenge

I am a tiny seed
Awakened within the ground
Dropped there by a mother tree
I sprout
After long months of preparing
I push roots into the ground
A fragile tendril of myself
Reaching into the earth
Gaining strength
Then a spring's light touches me
A soft sun, ready to feed me
So I rise up to meet the dawn
Soft delicate leaves unfolding
Slowly I grow
Up and up and up
A tiny stem
Tiny branches
Tiny leaves
Then bigger and bigger
Until I am a young tree
I bend in the wind
Sometimes almost break
My neighbours are busy with their own life struggles
But they still find time to lend me words of wisdom
The forest is alive
And I am part of it
Then a storm comes
Bigger than I have ever known
A storm that threatens to blow me over
To break my fragile trunk in two
And send my leaves tumbling to the forest floor
Where other creatures doubtless shall consume them
I am afraid
For I know that I have only one chance to survive
One chance to withstand this lashing wind
None of my dear friends can save me
For this is my true test
And it's all up to me
To die
Or
To live!
December 30, 2005.

[Underground River]

Ice

There is a hill that leads down to the river
A strange and fearful place to me it always was
Half calling to me
Half threatening
In the winter you could sled down that hill
It was a good ride
But the river was there
A big watery thing I did not understand
There would be ice on it, of course
What I thought was thin protection
I was always afraid of the ice
More afraid of the ice than of the freezing water beneath it
My sled could go fast
Faster
Fastest
Then it could break through that thin sheet
And I would fall in
Into my watery grave
I avoided that place
I did not want to confront the river
Even as a child I knew the river was bigger than me and would win
One day I plucked up the courage
From somewhere the courage came to me
I boarded my sled
Prepared for takeoff
The sled began to move
Then to move faster
Then faster still
Then fastest
An exhillerating ride of fear and glory
There was a pause then
A stillness
An instant of freefall
I hung suspended
Then I hit the river!
A solid thud
I knew it was the river
The dreaded river
It was over!
When would the ice break?
Why didn't I plunge through to my death?
Where were the screams of terror from passers-by?
"Oh my! She's going to die!"
Nothing happened
I sat on the river
My reer end sore from the landing
The ice still holding
The threat not realized
I was shocked
All my fear had been for naught
There was no thin ice
It was frozen solid
I got up and walked
I went home
I was alive
The river let me live
I was shocked
I didn't think rivers let people live
Weren't they out to get me?
Didn't they harbour a special grudge just for the likes of me?
Hadn't I offended them in some unknowable and irreparable way?
But no, the sled landed
The ice held
The day went on
I am still afraid of thin ice
Still cautious of rivers
But I do not fear them with the mindless dread I used to know
Because that river
Taught me a lesson
And let me live.
November 27, 2005.

[Underground River]

I have entered this poem before, but would like to do so again. It remains as it was.

NOTE: THIS POEM IS VIOLENT AND SHOULD NOT BE READ BY THE FAINT OF HEART OR WEAK OF STOMACH!

A GreenDruid
Walks along a path
Through the forest
She feels green
Uncertain, timid
She walks slowly through
The trees
The oaks stand silently
The maples do not move
The pines watch her mutely
She trembles slightly
With a dread she cannot
Explain
She moves quicker now
Steps on a root
Mumbles sorry to the maple
The maple smiles sadly down at her
She does not notice
But still she is afraid
A little voice in her head
Tells her to leave
But she brushes her fears aside
Thinking them to be groundless
She moves on
Deeper into the wood
After an hour
She is tired
She sits down
At the base of a maple
She touches the maple gently
The maple stands silently
Watching over her
Knowing she is doomed
Unable to tell her so
The maple's branches droop in sadness
But she is unaware of this
She smells the fresh quiet air of the forest
Feels the almost unnatural stillness
Something is out there
She thinks fearfully
All the birds are silent!
Her heart thunders with fear at this knowledge
She clutches her hands around the maple's gentle trunk
The maple senses her terror and is sad for her
She is so green and does not know the forest
The tree cries for her certain doom
Sap bleeds from it and drips on to her head
She touches the sticky fluid
And knows she is being wept on
By the dear maple
The tree has foreknowledge of what
Will happen to her this day
She quakes with fear
Unable to arise and flee
Paralyzed as she has never known
From far away
The huge animal smells her
She is hungry
She must eat
For she has young to care for
And they must eat too
They are screaming at her for food
Freshly slaughtered meat they must have
She smells meat
Smells a human presence
She would not normally eat humans
But this one smells
Vulnerable to her
And she is so hungry
She must have meat for her young ones
She is uncertain
For humans have often killed her kind
She has heard the sound
Of their killing
Strange things she does not know
That make a terrible loud noise
Ruining the stillness of the wood
She focuses her considerable
Senses upon the female human
She can hear the human's terrified breathing
She can smell the human's great fear
She can see the human's pale face
She thinks of how she
Can make this quick
She does not want
The human to be afraid
Or to feel any hurt
She knows fear and hurt
And does not want it for the human
She only wants meat
For her young ones
She creeps forward
The human does not move
She is unaware of the animal
She only is afraid
But knows not what she fears
The maple cries more silent sappy tears
On to the green druid
The great animal crouches, tenses, springs!
She hurtles through the air
Feels herself falling
Then
She lands
Upon the woman
The human cries out in realization
Terrified beyond all reason
The human knows she is going to be meat
She hopes, in her last instant
That a young animal or two might eat
That her corpse may be of some use
That it not be burried in a wooden box
She tries to thank Nature for giving her
This useful ending
But before she can speak
The merciful mother of four
Bites her neck
And she is ended
Before she can dwell
Upon her death
She is completely and unalterably dead
At the base of a maple tree
The maple drips more sap
On to the dead green druid
The trees around stand silently
Some crying for her loss
Some comforted by the fact
That some young ones will be fed this day
The animal rises, her task complete
Feeling sad still
But knowing she had to do it
She hears her young coming
Racing through the forest
To consume their meat
And she calls to them
And so they come
And they begin
To
Feast.
Copyright by a freshly killed GreenDruid January 24, 2005.

[Belet]

I dedicate this to my loving husband who is stationed far away in Korea for the next year. For those of you fortunate enough to have found true love, let your light shine for others and fill this world with hope that we can be part of something far greater than what anyone can ever imagine.

TRUE LOVE
Written by: Linda Fields (Belet')

How my heart ached to not be alone
to find the one who would sweep me away
and save me from just existing.
How I longed to be found by my knight
and become the happy ending in a tale of
true love.

You were everything I never imagined
everything I never dreamed
for I never thought happiness could unfold
so beautifully like the petals of a rose.
I knew you somehow and yet we'd never met.
You knew me somehow though nothing was said.
And here, we found each other again.

Like the desert yearns for rain
you fill my very soul
and when you're far from me
miles across the sea
I never feel quit whole.
And though the loneliness cuts deeper than a knife
you are my husband and I your wife
and I would never want more.

I know we'll be together again.
You will come off the plane, proud and strong
you will kiss the ground for you'll be home
and I'll stand with eyes of rain
to embrace my soldier....my knight
and we'll lose the world in a magickal kiss
where yesterday is lost and the future stands still
in a book written by few
and titled True Love.

[Skylark]

Well, I've just emerged from the Yuletide season, or Christmas as it is known in my family, feeling like Harry Potter in need of a rub-down with Skele-Gro. I certainly can't create anything at the moment, but I hope it's OK to enter a light-hearted poem that I wrote in June 2000.

This poem was inspired by my own visit to a Pam Ayres poetry recital (she's a famous UK comic poet and speaker) and, during the interval, an announcement about a badly parked car. My imagination took over, and the narrator is an elderly lady on an outing with her friend...

A Star Is Born

I went to a Pam Ayres recital -
What a performance she gave!
And to talk to a hall full of people,
I thought she was ever so brave.

She had us in stitches wi’ laughter;
One tale from another just rolled,
And we still have a ball when we try to recall
The comical stories she told.

But what I found really amazing
Was how the poor creature could bear
To see hundreds of pairs of eyes gazing,
Without getting stage-fright up there.

The interval came all too quickly;
My mate said,”Now, what shall we do?”
I said, “Ooh, I fancy an ice-cream”,
And she said, “Well, I’ll nip to the loo.”

…I sat down again with my ice-cream;
It tasted as good as home-made,
And inside the lid there was cleverly hid
A spoon like a miniature spade.

But I’d barely begun to enjoy it
When the loudspeaker crackled and spoke,
And the words that it said echoed all round my head,
And I thought, someone’s having a joke:

“There’s a car right outside the front entrance,
It looks more abandoned than parked;
Its owner is here in the audience tonight
And the Manager’s getting quite narked.

“So if anyone’s got a green Peugeot,
Come and shift it right now – don’t delay,
Or within the next five or so minutes
The clampers will tow it away!”

The number plate details then followed.
I thought, what’s the fuss all about?
Then my stomach and legs just felt hollowed
As I heard my car’s number read out!

I wasn’t too happy that moment,
In fact I went into a flap
To think of my smart little Peugeot
Being towed to the breaker’s for scrap.

(And everyone’s eyes were just sweeping the room
to see who the culprit could be…
with a feeling of doom, and my heart going boom,
I rose from my seat going red as a beet,
And the whole crowd was staring at ME!)

Well, I’d walked from Prestatyn to Chepstow
As a girl, in the month of September;
But this hike from me seat to the Exit
Is the longest that I can remember.

To be dignified was all that mattered –
How to get stately outside?
I was certain me stockings were laddered,
And me skirt all rucked up on one side.

With everyone watching my progress,
And muttering, “We might have guessed
The silly old bat was a woman!
Who says women drivers are best?!

“…And we are all smug and all righteous:
We went to the car park, and paid!”
…And then I thought, hold yer head high, girl;
Step out now, and don’t be afraid!

So I put on a bit of a swagger
And sashayed me way through the hall;
Though me bunions felt just like a dagger,
It wasn’t so bad after all.

Well, I shifted me car in the cold wind and rain,
And rushed back as quick as could be,
Wondering whether they’d started again,
Or waited for little old me.

And what do you know – they had held up the show,
And I felt all apologetic,
But I thought, all the same, it’s me moment of fame,
And I tried not to be so pathetic.

I lifted me chin and looked round me
And suddenly felt very brave,
‘Cos fame and attention had found me!
(It was all I could do not to wave!)

I hadn’t got fined for me parking,
So I felt I’d been granted a pardon;
My pleasure was sweet as I regained my seat
And I knew that I’d made it to stardom!


11-6-00

[Ki No Ronin]

Konnichi Wa to All:

Here is my Imbolc 3 times 3 Triad of Wisdom which is based on my Old Signature that I posted in my Profile for about a year or so, which went "The Emotions that come from the Belief that Mankind is Created in a Godlike Image: Egotism, Vanity, and Greed".

This is my Second 3x3 Triad of Wisdom Composition. I hope you all enjoy it.

Here it is:

3x3 Triads on Egotism, Vanity, and Greed:

The Emotions that come from the Belief that Mankind is Created in a Godlike Image:
- Egotism
- Vanity
- and Greed

Why Mankind Declared itself a Godlike Image:
- When Mankind Harnessed the Power of Plants.
- When Mankind Domesticated Farming Animals.
- When Mankind Developed Writing.

Technologies Developed in order to Proove Mankind as Created in a Godlike Image:
- Metal Smithing and the Forging of Steel.
- Guns and Firearms.
- Harnessing of Electricity and the developement of Electronics.




When one is Egotistical:
- One then becomes a Danger to yourself and others.
- One becomes a Poor Sport when One Loses.
- And One then tends to ignore Good Advice.

When one has Vanity:
- You start thinking your Personal Appearance becomes Most Important.
- You start Concidering yourself the Center of the Universe.
- You start taking Personal Criticisms too Negatively.

When one has Greed:
- You take from Nature more than you Need.
- You then become Ruthless and Unfeeling in your Business Practices.
- And you become part of Humanity's Problems instead of a Solution.




Damage caused by a Lifeforms who Believe themselves Created in a Godlike Image:
- Mass Extinction of other Animals and Plants.
- The Destruction of Natural Ecosystems of the Earth.
- The Weakening of the Atmosphere and the Ozon Layer.

In order to Mankind to become back to being One with Nature:
- We must Teach our Children to Respect Nature.
- Endeavour to gain Environmental Wisdom
- Grow and Plant New Trees and Forests.

To once again become Harmonious with Nature, one must:
- Live by the Wiccan Rede of being of Free Will, but Harming None.
- Celebrating and having Respect for the Eight Harvest Festivals.
- Having Reverance for the Four Quarters of East, South, West and North.


I hope you all have enjoyed my 2006 Imbolc 3x3 Triad of Wisdom Composition.


Ki No Ronin