2008 BELTANE/SAMHUINN LONG POEM ENTRIES

[Earthwoman]

Notice: Please add your original long poems for the current Eisteddfod here. Long poems must be over 30 lines.

[City Druid]

Simply surviving


Waiting
waiting
hungrily
waiting,
patiently
silently
hovering
in waiting,
ready for seizing
then suddenly,
with heart racing
pulsating,
espials the kill,
no longer in waiting
but falling
free falling
nose diving
spiralling
DOWN
DOWN
DOWN,
then
swoops
chases
grabs
seizes
takes
rises
soars
flies
higher
higher
and higher,
shredding
ripping
and killing

devouring
and feeding

heart beating
still breathing

living
forever surviving

[BarbaraG]

Spell for the Starlight Journey

She stepped singing
through matted grasses
names of flowers
poppy iris
that trailed her hem
lily and rose

Maiden of blossoms
primrose and chestnut
born of nine flowers
cockle and bean
Persephone of the dream
pointed her steps to the river
and the tall reeds waving

The air
deep in scent
and silence drew her
to a path dark with willows
Her feet climbed hills
of the years’ droppings
willow leaves and bones
as they carried her
to the arms
of a land dim
as starlight

And she lingered there
the Maiden
in the darkness, in the dream
speaking to the willows
and the starlight
singing to the river
and the silence
and the reeds

From the bones of the willow
she formed a blade
from the reeds she wove a girdle
and from the starlight
on the river
drew a band
to shine across her brow
as she called to her
the flowers
that they might know
the power of the silence
dreaming beneath the stars


Barbara Gittes

[Abhaill]

To Know Me

If you ever go walking out on the ocean
And you see a girl there in a billowing cloak
With her hair all around her and waves in her footprints
Her voice on the wind and the sea in her eyes

You’ll have found where I live
Where my soul sails the ocean
You’ll have found where I live
With the storm clouds above me
You’ll have found where I live
Though you may not understand me
You’ll have found where I live
Where I sing with the wind

If you ever go walking up on the clifftops
And you see a girl there in a velvet green dress
With the long grass around her and hair full of flowers
Her voice on the wind and the earth in her eyes

You’ll have found where I live
Where my soul sails the meadow
You’ll have found where I live
With the dawn clouds above me
You’ll have found where I live
Though you may not understand me
You’ll have found where I live
Where I sing with the wind

If you ever go walking deep in the forest
And you see a girl there among trees old and sweet
With the fruit, vines and berries entwined all around her
Her voice on the wind and the wild in her eyes

You’ll have found where I live
Where my soul sails the treetops
You’ll have found where I live
As the dusk settles o’er me
You’ll have found where I live
Though you may not understand me
You’ll have found where I live
Where I sing with the wind

If you ever go walking ‘round bright fires burning
And you see a girl there draped in orange and red
As the embers are popping she dances in circles
Her voice on the wind and the sparks in her eyes

You’ll have found where I live
Where my soul sails and rises
You’ll have found where I live
With the smoke clouds above me
You’ll have found where I live
Though you may not understand me
You’ll have found where I live
Where I sing with the wind

If you ever go walking along rocky shorelines
And you see a girl there with her feet bare and white
And the calm waves are lapping her steps as she wanders
Her voice on the wind and a smile in her eyes

You’ll have found where I live
Where my soul sails the border
You’ll have found where I live
With the bright clouds above me
You’ll have found where I live
Though you may not understand me
You’ll have found where I live
Where I sing with the wind

You’ll have found where I live
Where the light sails above you
You’ll have found where I live
Where the mist swirls around you
You’ll have found where I live
Though you may not understand it
You’ll have found where I live
Where I sing with the wind


~ Abhaill

[pangurban]

The Seasons of the Tree.

Spring:

The sap is rising and the lifeblood returns to my body.
Rising spreading out to the very tips of my branches,
and where it spreads life bursts forth, as the buds
of a new seasons coat shyly shows itself.
In this flurry of newness I become aware my thoughts
wake from winters long sleep.

Summer:

Verdant life now surrounds me and I wear a coat
of lush greenness full of summers promise.
I am once again the home of old friends.
Rooks with their strident calls nest in my arms.
And chattering squirrels make their drays in my bosom.
Then summers magic fills my thoughts and I dream.

Autumn:

My senses tell me it is time to slow down, the
verdancy of summer draws to a close.
It is time to prepare for the return of the cold.
My life's blood returns to my roots once more and
last seasons coat of green turns to red and gold
then fall to the ground and my thoughts turn to sleep.

Winter:

It is cold and dark my leaves a memory what
you see is my essence.
The bareness of my branches
is what I am at the core of my being.
My pulse is so slow now you wonder if I am alive.
But in my heart I hold a dream it is a dream of warmth
for I know spring will return and life's cycle will continue.

Epilogue:

So here I stand through the seasons of the year
roots planted deep in the dark earth.
Rocked by Winters wind and snow.
Warmed by Springs gentle sun.
Parched by Summers gruelling heat.
Lulled by Autumns sleepy calm.

Pangur- ban

[Fitheach]

Tarot Ramblings

The Trumps

-0-

Regard well the one
Known as the Fool
Inside his small bag
Is every known tool

-1-

The Magician’s instruments
Lay on the table
To direct his life
This wizard is able

-2-

The High Priestess sits
‘Tween a black and white column
Her vision is clear
Her expression is solemn

-3-

The Empress of bounty
Sits on her throne
Surrounded by nature
Yet always alone

-4-

The Emperor rules
The world manifest
And puts our resolve
To his severe test

-5-

The Heirophant teaches
Us wrong from right
His internal voice
Is the source of his might

-6-

The Lovers embrace
All the world between them
Their love is our union
Our world is their gem

-7-

The Chariot travels
Yet stays in one place
In his endless journey
To win the great race

-8-

Strength charms the lion
With chains of love
The bond between them
Forged from above

-9-

The Hermit stands
With his shining light
A circle of knowledge
Illumines the night

-10-

The Wheel of the Year
Spins through our life
Like a merry go round
of both joy and strife

-11-

Justice presides
With scale and sword
Measuring our lives
By deed and word.

-12-

The Hanged Man suspends
And surrenders his fate
Tied to a the world tree
Where he contemplates

-13-

Death rides his pale horse
Over every living field
At the end of the day
To him all must yield

-14-

Temperance pours
The living waters
Above the sacred pool
Reflecting all that matters

-15-

The Devil laughs
At the chains that bind
A bat-winged angel
Whose truth we must find

-16-

The Tower crowns
Our highest hill
But we must take care
Lest we take a spill.

-17-

The holy star descends
Her hands above the well
Pouring all the world’s waters
for her earth healing spell

-18-

The moon gleams
Between two towers
Strange visions emerge
As she marks the hours

-19-

The radiant Sun
Guides a fearless child
Riding a stallion
Among the free and wild

-20-

Judgment calls forth
with Gabriel’s horn
The dead rise from their coffins
And are reborn

-21-

The World embraces
The fool’s merry dance
Spinning our lives
In a whirl of elegance


The Courts and Pips

Swords

The Airy Ace of Swords
Pierces the eastern crown
The mind penetrates
All the mysteries profound

Caught between two sabers
The Lady of Two Swords
Blind under the new moon
ponders choices leading forwards.

The rain clouds pour down
On a large beating heart
Three Swords pierce
But cannot tear it apart.

The young knight rests supine
Surrounded by Swords Four
Christ blesses in stained glass
And peace reigns forevermore

Jagged clouds race cross the sky
As our rugged hero counts his gains
Five swords he’s won this day
As he offers his enemies his disdain.

A pole born barge moves across
A sea calmed by sorrow
Six Swords, and three people,
Searching for a new tomorrow.

Come to the carnival and see
A trickster with his Seven Blades
Stolen from unguarded tents
By this clever renegade.

Bound and blinded on the shore
She stands fenced between Swords Eight
When she learns to slip her bonds
She will become the initiate.

Nine Swords hover above the bed
And fear wakens our poor sleeper
Yet comfort lies across the cot
And her dreams take her deeper

All fears have come to pass
And Ten Swords pierce his back
Yet our poor corpse will rise again,
Under a new sign in the Zodiac.

The Page of Swords brandishes
Her Blade of Air in the breeze
Nine birds fly among the clouds
As she wields her weapon with ease.

The Valiant Knight of Swords rides
In all haste towards his goal.
His armor shines in the high wind
As he seeks the Hero’s Role.

The Queen of Swords holds
Her mighty weapon high
Any doubts one brings,
Her sharp mind can clarity

The King of Swords rules
His realm with rationality
No problem is too great
For his sound mentality.

Wands

The southern hand of spirit holds
The mighty Ace of Wands
A fiery torch in aspect
All passion responds

A pensive courtier regards
The globe between two poles
His longing for the world outside
Is almost more than he can thole.

Three Staffs mark the beginning
Of a journey to distant lands
As our wanderer begins to see
A vast world of many strands.

Four Poles form a canopy
Beyond the castle court
Where two celebrants
Rejoice and cavort

Engaged in a mock battle
Are five young knaves
Bravely holding forth
with their strong Five Staves

A victory procession
with Six Battle Lances
A laurelled warrior rides
While his white horse prances

One holds again many
Seven staves in conflict
The resolution to this fight
Will be fierce and quick.

Eight wands in flight
Fiery arrows sent apace
Each toward a single goal
Flying through space.

A wounded warrior
Standing guard
A fence of nine staffs
For him to regard.

Ten poles gathered
Like a sheaf of wheat
Stored up against
Any hint of defeat.

The young Page of Wands
With his walking cane
Ponders the pyramids
In the fiery desert terrain

On his rearing destrier
The Knight of Wands pursues
The passion of his heart,
Following his muse.

The black cat looks on
With its enigmatic grin
While the Queen of Wands
Holds her court within.

In his salamander cloak
The lion throned Wand King
With his magic staff
Can manifest anything.

Cups

The western hand of Water holds
the Ace of Cups in all its glory
The ancient Grail of legend
The sacred goal of many a story

The stalwart Two of Cups
Pledges a holy bond
Between two hearts, whose
Love is guided from beyond

Three Loving Cups
Held high by three good friends
Knowing their relationship
Brings a joy that never ends

The Four of Cups is offered
To a man beneath a tree
He ignores the one that counts
While he contemplates the three.

Mourning three empty cups
Stands a woman cloaked in sorrow blue
If she turns back to the bridge of hope
She’ll see from Five Cups she still has Two

Six Cups filled with flowers
From his garden’s treasure trove
To a golden young maiden
The boy offers his love

In the world of dreams
A man contemplates
The Seven visionary Cups
His inner mind creates.

Under the full moon
With his staff in hand
Leaving Eight Cups behind
He seeks a new land.

A merchant wealthy
Displays his wares
Nine golden cups
Yet he sits, solitaire

Ten Rainbow Cups
Grace the morning sky
A family rejoices
Their prosperity

The Page of Cups contemplates
The Wise Salmon of the Sea
For this sacred fish brings
Dreams and prophecy

The valiant Knight of Cups
Knows the true chalice will sing
When he finds the Holy Grail
in the court of the Fisher king

The Queen of Cups ponders
A chalice of many shapes
On a shore of sacred stones
Along the moving waterscape.

The King of Cups reclines on
A floating throne upon the ocean
Tossed between fish and boat
He reigns supreme over emotion

Pentacles

The Northern hand of Earth holds
A golden Pentacle, the Ace
Over the garden of earthly delights
Where an arch of roses and lilies grace

A juggler weaves Two Golden Disks
While ships pass on rolling sea
He balances his options
As he explores each possibility

A talented craftsman
Chisels Pentacles Three
Conferring with two planners
Who have come his work to see

The lord of a great city
Holds dear Four Golden Coins
He guards them with his life
Fearing those who would purloin

The sanctuary of Five Pentacles
On a snowy winter night
Offers holy sanctuary
to those suffer blight.

A wise man of generosity
Offers both justice and relief
With Six Coins and a scale
No matter who - beggar of thief

A gardener ponders with his hoe
Seven Disks of ripened fruit
Blooming from his own labor
His love is the taproot

A craftsman chisels Eight Gold Shields
His handiwork a source of pride
His fine wares sustain him
With the profits they provide

A Lady in the Garden where
Nine Pentacles surround
Her Bird of Paradise whispers
Nature’s secrets profound

At the gate of the City
Ten Pentacles shine forth
Blinding all who pass therein
To each other’s worth

The Page of Pentacles pauses
And holds the crystal globe
Seeing inside its inner world
The outer world to probe

The Knight of Pentacles regards
For he has the Sight of Stone
The art of crystal scrying
Which he has made his own.

The Queen of Stones holds
The earthly healing stone
She touches all who are in need
As she has always done

The King of Pentacles is throned
Surrounded by green foliage
He holds his orb and shield
To guard the kingdom is his pledge.

[wyeuro]

black were the gathering clouds,
and the wind was rising high
no star was seen nor crescent moon
all in the darkening sky

down to the water’s edge
where the reeds were bending low
between the shades of the moaning pines
fair wyndolin did go

she came to a tiny boat
close hidden in the fern
and launched it into the winding flood
and into the wind did turn

and she came to an island dark
where the lowering ruins did brood
and there she fetched her boat to land,
and hauled it from the flood

then she climbed up the rocky scree
with the loud wind in her ears
(is it the scream of the cailleach witch
that through the wind she hears?)

and yet she turned with a hardened will
and to the top did win
and found the fort with the broken tower
and swiftly she went in

and then loud called the angry owl
that that deep fort did keep
'oh who should break my sacred spell
and wake me from my sleep?'

and many were the pairs of eyes
that glowered in the dark
that fixed upon the maiden fair
and coldly her did mark

and loud was her voice and clear
as boldly she replied,
'i am the witch of the western wastes
am here to seek thy rede,

for i love a brave, good knight
and weary is his way
for he must wend on this stormy night
a deadly foe to slay,

for we are a peaceful folk,
good farmers of the field
yet foes have come to steal our grain
commanding us to yield

and they have demanded wives
our gentle maidens all
and all strong youths to sail away
to labour in their thrall

so i have come to seek your aid
in casting of my spell
to save the life of my good knight
and all our foes repel.'

and so with white water, and red blood
drawn from her own left thumb
and with the herbs of the sacred grove
she bade the fell foe come

and down in the dungeon deep
she cast her potent charm
where ancient haunted skulls watched o’er
and the owl upon her arm

and she said, 'bane be to foe and fiend!
and bane to the deadly dule
that makes the evil curse the good!
and bane to the tyrant cruel.'

she saw in a dream her good brave knight
and a dragon fighting fierce
and by her spell she drove his lance
it’s scaly breast to pierce

and loud screamed the raging storm
and louder roared the sea
and out of the clouds poured lightning wild
crying 'death to the enemy!'

and she fell into a deep deep swound
in the dark ancestral tomb
and there she talked with the ancient skulls
of those ancient catacombs

and then up rose the golden sun
in the morning fair and bright
she gave her thanks to the ancient owl
for the help she’d had that night

and when she had returned again
and her boat was hidden well
she ran home to her village small
to see what they would tell

and when the sun rose in the sky
and stood at noon day bright
over the hill on his foaming steed
there came her good brave knight

and he said ‘praise to the magic spell
that drove my charmed spear
for i slew the tyrant cruel and fell
we have no more to fear’

and then he kissed her rosy mouth
and he kissed her cheek and chin
‘of maidens fair there’s none so dear
as my lady wyndolin.’

wyverne/|\

[Fox]

Dogs

in my dreams they run ahead
runners slice white crystal shards of ice
ptarmigan explodes from snow banked high
against a tangled tree felled
by blade or spate or snowfall too thick
I am too thick to think quickly and

in my dreams they run ahead
we follow the winding river trail
where the water wells up we cut upriver
clinging close to the bank
when the banks run close together
winding down the center where the ice is wide and

in my dreams they run ahead
sail tails held high
in this immense non-sense of no-man's land
though the snow tells me no tale I can hear
all their ears are pricked to pierce
what mystery lies thickly all around and

in my dreams they run ahead
where the music that is not imagined
is the percussion of shifting snowshoes
the rattling chains and their own chant
the panting keening whine
the time varies but the lyrics stay the same and

in my dreams they run ahead
in their dreams they hunt their hunt
a string of crystal stars bound tight
the bite bound the snarl beaten down
eyes glitter at the slightest sound
Drops of blood fall from their ice-cut paws and

in my dreams they run ahead
never tiring always glancing back
gauging how well the leader in the back
paces the leader in front of the pack
at either end we stretch a warm mobility between
find neither lacking and no one slacking
her mind and mine keep our world stretched taut and

in my dreams they run ahead

[DaRC]

Spring Meditations
===========

North wind dances on
an awakening landscape -
to titmice love tunes.

Mistletoe beads;
threaded through the woodland
snowdrops fertilise her.

River flow o'er -
hag's humus removed, reveals
daffodil power!

The promise of spring;
Sunna races her smiley
boat into the mist.

Light's bright golden spears
urge torporific legs on
thru' dew reflection

Fresh green, ice dusted;
patchwork pattern is erased
by auroric rays.

Wild garlic; shoots, leaves.
Cold air expectorant
enlivens; life, blood.

Primrose flower eye
warming mossy embankment -
an enlightened verge.

Bitter clarity;
sharp air from a restless night.
leap years extra day.

Solar energy lift;
After frost daffodils lay,
their heads warm and rise.

Oestre blusters past;
In her wake fertile forests
dance ambiently.

Clocks turn to summer.
Wood Anemone's rise
with open faces.

[magma]

Once Again

Can it be I knew you in another life – another time
Where we together when the stones were laid
Your strong arms building what we believed divine
As my poems were read and sweet music played

Sailing down the Nile - was that you with me there
And was it you who ordered the temples in my name
As we drank wine and laughed in the lotus scented air
And each day fell into history’s hall of fame

And when He talked did you feel something stir within
Sensing the world change with His every word
Did your heart feel afraid for Him
Scared His strange story would go unheard

Did you run with me when the Empire fell
And the powerful lost their marble city
Did you follow me out of that living hell
While the streets ran with blood and pity

Where you there at the joust on that hot afternoon
The one who rode with such skill and art
Was that you who held my favour but left too soon
The knight who won the day and this lady’s heart

And I swear it was you Monsieur in the mask at the ball
Dancing with me as the life we knew fell away
The one who told me I had it all
The one who promised me he would stay

And yours is the face who pushed through the crowd
When the sky came down upon my head
You in your uniform all brave and proud
Too gentle to be fighting – too young to be dead

And now once again you stand before me
Would you still want me if I told you all this
Your eyes are the eyes I have longed to see
As I lose myself once again in your kiss


cJB 2008