VOTE! 2011 LUGHNASADH/IMBOLC LONG POEM

[Earthwoman]

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[Mellinda]

Voices of the Stones

The stones are calling, can you here them
Listen…., listen, on the breeze
Past from tree to tree then to you and me
Come gather here from far and wide
This is the message, the stones are sending
A promise made so long ago

Come, celebrate the longest day
See the sun set and then to rise
Dance and sing, let’s celebrated this night
Blow the horn and bang the drums
As we wile away, this the shortest night
Telling stories in the moonlight

Man and woman, youth and child
In flowing robes of white and gold
Chanting mystical words, drifting in the night
Echoing and bouncing, around the stones
On this night, as we wait the light
Sitting by fires that flicker in the night

The air is damp and cold
People huddled together standing vigil
Shadows moving slowly by
Eyes heavy with need of sleep
As thy gaze at the portal of life
Now standing silent in the night

Look, oh look, the sky is on fire
Ribbons of red, spreading across the sky
Dragons dancing on the clouds
Dawn is breaking, the sun is rising
Soon we will feel the fire of life
Spreading over land and sea

The sun has risen, now renewed
Golden rays light up the sky
The promise fulfilled once more
A gift given to all of life
A new day has begun
In the burning fires of the sun


Poem by
L.F.Tallis =Mellinda Written in 2009 after the summer solstice
Copyright © 2009 Edited and new verses added 2011

[somerled]

THE BOOK OF ESSENCE

one day
I got this mighty book
where it was written all down,
from the creation of the universe
to the perpetuity of life

and all was illustrated
with the most beautiful pictures
from the most famous artists,
so I took up this journey
as I started reading

and I swam with the dolphins
to some far lonely land
full of the most amazing creatures

and I rode with the Walkyres
to get drunk with Thor and Odin
and meet Heimdall on his rainbow bridge

and I talked to the wise ones
asking them every single question
I ever wanted to be answered

and I danced with the fairies
living in the deep dark woods
where time outruns the clock

and I flew with the eagles
looking to the beauty of our planet
from high up in the skies

and I played with the children
learning from the innocence of childhood
the richness of astonishment

and I stood in the great circles of stone
on the days they were created
by some long forgotten strength

and I travelled to the stars
to learn from infinity
the boundlessness of soul

and I sailed on oceans of love
to discover the great forces
inspiring this sacred world

so I turned page after page
when I suddenly realized
that all pages were blank,
the book was empty
but my spirit was filled

[wyeuro]

one with the wyverne - or how i got my name.


o wild and wise wyverne, dread daemon and dire,
bold being of brightness, fell phantom of fire,
o wide-winged and wonderful, pure and impassioned,
magically made and from fair fancy fashioned,
am i, in my innocence, near you in nature?
oh, might a meek maiden be classed with a creature
so sparkling and spruce, and so blissful and breezy,
who crosses the cosmos in effortless easy
and measureless movements, who traverses timescapes
unknown and undreamt of, and ripples through rhymescapes
as snakes slither, softly, and linking like letters
and sending them sliding, set free from fast fetters,
from distant dimensions (so cheerful thy chortle
so laughing and loving) - to me, a mere mortal?

for recently reborn, i needed a new name,
and hesitant, humble, i, craving a clue, came
by booklore and bardry, through sigil and symbol
allured by your lustre and, noting your nimble
alacritous antics, your delicate dancing
your magical music, enchanting, entrancing,
i glimpsed in your glittering time-twitching tail
a path of pure poetry, glint of the grail,
and i swiftly took speed, and i promptly pursued you.
i called and you came. i indeed interviewed you,
i asked for an answer: ‘o, know ye my name, then?’
and wordless, o wyverne, you flicked me with flame then.
you yawned and your yellow and green gullet glittered
your mouth made a movement, fire flashed and flame flittered
sparks sprayed out like stardust, and galaxies glimmered
colossal new cosmoses shivered and shimmered
and spirals of spinning space, howling, were hollowed
till fast in a fatal flash, swish! i was swallowed!

devoured by a dragon! oh! eaten alive!
ghastly thy gullet, yet down i did dive!
nothing was normal, awesome was all -
strange the sensations, frightening the fall,
vanished was vision, but born in my being
was wistful awareness more subtle than seeing.

so spreading new spiritual wings wild and wondrous
to etheric airways through throngs thick and thunderous
of curdling cloud clots laced with lashings of lightning
i sought my soul centre (for first flights are frightening)
so gladly i grasped it! vast vistas of vision
appeared as i asked. did i dream the decision
full firm and fine-focused, with grateful glad glee to go
bravely to bold belief, now my new name to know?
devoured by a dragon, ironically i’ve an
odd urge to eat earthlings - i’m one with the wyverne!

[Teileag]

Midsummer to Lammas

Yellow
Tiny flowers shaped as stars
Gazing gracefully at the sky
Rough ears of rye
Rocking rythmically in the breeze
Calming cammomile
Fuzzy faces smiling upwards

Blue
Forget-me-nots floating fearfully
On blue grass, green moss
Bluebells waving boldly
At pale cumulus clouds
Lavish ladyfinger shines lilac
Beautiful to behold, deadly though

White
Mellow meadowsweet merging
Into white wild grass
Diffusing delicately
Appetizing aromas into the air
Heavenly scented honeysuckle
Winds white finger round fences

Red
Succulent strawberries stir
Sweet memories of mother
Red currants render flavour
To joyfully juicy jam
Rubyred roses blush boldly
Protected by thick thorns

Green
Pale, powerful, potent, pungent
Deep, dark, dormant, dreamy
Brilliant, bright, blueish, bold
Gorgeous grass, growing wildly
Brightly hued birch leaves beckon
To the green sun in the great sky

Silver
Shiny beech bark
Smooth and soft to the touch
Potent Phagos of the fair foreigner
Bringing bright gifts to the gods
Tawny tiny nuts hidden in thorns
Nourishing shy sojourners in need

The Sun shines warmly
Summer seems so strong
Yet secretly, stealthily, stubbornly
The Dark has come

Let us revel in the heat
Rejoice
Recognize, though, reverently
Dark and light as One
In the depth of the heart

[Fox of the Oaks]

The Bear Healer

It was a gentle following he kept,
Seven small cubs, three months from birth.
The boy, chosen bear-healer by his great aunt.

They lived among the old green firs,
And found food from the forest floors.
He looked into their eyes and adored.

And they grew with time, as did he,
And the passion in heart and blood was set free.
They roamed the wider land.

One day finding smoke and stench of death,
They saw three hunters roasting flesh.
It was a gentle approach at first.

Not pigs nor deer nor ferret caught,
But a bear, their father, long thought lost.
They didn't understand why.

Fire strew the sky with smoke,
The wild hunter exploded within.
These bears and boy never knew sin.

Three hunters dazed and unprepared,
Blood was shed, wounds they bled.
Fate was flipped with furious force.

Three hunters no longer held their trade,
To the Earth they met decay.
They didn't remember their passing.

Time's twists had turned their ways,
Metampsychosis teaches always.
The mysterious giver of law.

It was a gentle following he kept,
Three new cubs born to join his sleuth;
Hunters who forgot their passing.

They lived on foods from forest floors.
They kept to ways that bears adore.
And grew up among the old green firs.

[Fox of the Oaks]

The Night Song of the Elven Kind

Seven elves sat around the Oracle Star,
Each taking space between the spearing points,
Sending silent energies to afar.
The fire in the centre dwelt,
Long before any mortals birth,
Bright, violet and arcing green,
Upon the starlit forest.

Seven elves sat chanting,
In likeness to waterfalls at dawn,
Sending their keen and conscious words as gifts,
To the fire, intent as timeless bridge.

Their rhythm played like wind on field,
And thoughts of depth emerged as light,
Like a dream opening inner sight,
Memories made clear into the fire.

And language became the world,
Experience to replace the words,
And deepening experience still,
Came from their hearts,
Through breath tranquil.
They intoned:

There was a time before,
An aching time of yore,
For the souls upon this land,
This Middle-Earth.

As women and men were born,
To face the wilderness yet torn,
They learnt to become strong,
They were made by song.

Though before this is introduced,
Here we share a knowing,
Something of the teaching,
Of the wide and sacred Nature.

Nature, our cradle
We have long lived with able,
Through terror and beauty,
Here we sit to this day.

For she is the foundation,
Of all form and consciousness,
Without her we'd be empty,
With many less tales at best.

As air is best in caves when still,
As sun is silent at safe distance,
As rocks are rarely seen to crumble,
Of their own accord,
We know our mother, Nature,
Is delicate and old,
And thus is best left as she is,
Without our interference.

Her power it is also old,
Not something young-kin understand,
Even when told!
We give the warning hear it clear,
Respect her till your final year.

You mortals here upon this land,
Your fate is ruined by the greedy hand,
And if you think yourself the wiser,
Ask yourself what you will die for?

For a noble heart at best can give,
Themselves to raise another to live,
But what of those who only take,
In death they see their big mistake.

Be calm, if your heart is good.
Sit silently and understand her voice,
Our mother she is vast and fair,
Free and kind to all who care.

She will teach you all you need to know,
Always simple, your growing slow.
As all things rushed are short to stay,
Like mists in the morning they soon fade away.

Hark, three sayings to ponder for a day:
Time is the rhythm of her breath,
Space is the gateway of her birth and death,
And the physical world just one part of her depth.


And a cascade of harp music and tinkling bells,
Fell from the trees,
As elven musicians seated high above,
Listened to the stars and played.
Like a river in it's flooding flow,
The air spread with ecstasy and honeyed glow.
And waves of epic scores followed,
Deep into the ambient hours of the night.

Time had left the certain track;
Across it's wild wider land,
It roamed,
Still in rhythm with the dance,
Of the fire in this sacred grove.
And the silence of the seven,
Seated round the central star,
Stirred into refined melody,
As beauty took on new meaning,
The lilt voices rose again in song:

And as was said not long before,
On this night the sharing of the lore,
Of the humans of the mortal race.
The men and women of this land,
This land of Telion's embrace,
were formed the same as land was formed,

Yes, mortal men and women kind,
Those born and doomed to one day die,
Are living from the gifts of land,
Yet something that few understand,
Their immortal spirit dwells beyond,
All encasing physical form.

Beyond not in some otherwhere,
Like distant faint pious keep,
But beyond all physical limitations,
No matter how embedded deep.

And in this mystery they sit,
Mind tells lies that gives imprisoned grip,
Those who see with heart all know,
The spirit lives freely in body aglow.

And in body does it grow,
For mortal souls without body know,
They need such a sacred vessel for their soul,
This is the area they must explore.

So in days of early ages lived,
Nature was yet split by human hand,
Crossed meetings many beings had,
And to live in such a way was hard.

Though hard, the human core was soft,
And from this came words aloft,
Through reliance, they grew strong,
In understanding the lore of song.

These days there plods many a mortal,
Hard inside and when shaken feeble,
For they have lost their inner soft,
Their glowing rhyme, the silent shine.

Not by nature's defeat and taming,
But on knowing nature's dreaming,
Her secret tones and melodies,
Her flowering vibrations beyond all things,
Does one know the way-beyond,
The sacred life of freedom won.

With thus people of the early ages,
Grew naturally into graceful sages,
And many aeons passed,
While peace was norm, and war was sparse.

These days many a human mind,
Is left isolated and behind,
While all creatures of our Elven kind,
Fly Freely spirited and sublime.

We do not dwell in spirit starvation,
Thinking ourselves the only nation,
Of worth upon this kindred earth,
This land within our love.

And through time our memories kept clear,
Our hearts wide berthed and of cheer,
Our experience ranges all colours,
As we outlive mortal sisters and brothers.

We have seen their many ages,
Some when they were crones and sages,
Some when hearts like sun did set,
Others spring-like peoples, innocent.
Some ages of dark hunting and remorse,
Others scarred by acts we'll never endorse.

We have seen their collective paths,
Seen the rise and falls of many arts.
Yet we live in immortal stride,
We see not with their mortal hearts.

Kindled with a wisdom of eternity,
It is difficult to see fully,
To experience mortal blind folly,
Alas, fools they cannot understand.

We sit around this Star of light,
Awakening rhythms of beyond,
To fly into the night,
Fed through song,
Our sweetened song-sprites,
Fly freely friends,
Into the world with insight.

And music flowed on and beyond,
The veil that kept matter ensnared.
Becoming lights of bright-blue hue,
Like a fountain from the central star,
Sung into life, the song was awake,
And awake it did play, for play's sake.

Dancing to itself in rhyme,
Washing the grove with valiant shine,
Spinning and turning and twirling and swirling,
Off through forest and into sky,
Spreading far and lifting high,
They ventured out to aid the world,
Merging with the wind beyond veil,
To all the lands did they set sail.

In flutes and harps, the melody strove,
In tonal song the Elves did grow,
As though their central space became,
Somehow everywhere, and did still remain,
In that grove of maple to this very day.
As though sunrise was there to stay,
And sometimes animals or humans stray,
To come across that very place,
And feel something in the space,
The air, the fallen leaves, time's flow,
Gladdened and at rest somehow,
At least that's what I hear... then and now.

I, Mürién the lorekeeper say,
This tale of 'the Night Song of the Elven kind',
Has come to an end for today.

[Owl Woman]

JOURNEY

The owl of wisdom and change
Decended
Awakening my soul
Opening my eyes and senses
The crone of the night
Enfolded me
In soft calming wings
Whispering wise words
"Allow your wildness to prosper
Cloak yourself in the peace and strength of the earth
Stoke your belly's fire
Breathe the air of life's fullness
Bathe in the waters of joy
Forgive narrow spurious judgement
Born of egotistic envy
Release grotesque guilt
Imposed by stiff sullen restraints
Smell the flowers
Taste the fruit
Explore sensuous pleasures
Live with freedom
Without boundries
With love
Without fear
Jump into the flowing river of humanity
And discover you are a SWIMMER"

From the world of sun and spirit
A wild aincent Bee appears
Imparting advice
"Learn from the Hive
work together in harmony
Accept and embrace your differences
Honour the natural world
Take only what you need - Give respect
Honour the sun
My deep steady hum speeds a journey
Nature's shaman's drum
Come with me to paradise
Join in the sun-dance
Raise the cup of life
Drink it dry
No remorse
No Regrets
You are ALIVE"

From the watery west
Shimmering scales swam near
leaping out of the raging river
Salmon spoke
"Come with me to the sacred pool
Repose in secluded safety until repleted
while I speak
For you to hear
See how the river flows
Sometimes fast - sometimes slow
Always growing
If impeeded by obstiacles unable to move
She forges on
Explodes overflows is destructive
When balance is returned - the obstruction cleared
She is once more placid
Singing as she somersaults over rocks and pebbles
into gentle streams
Or surging over mighty wiers
Free spirit uninhibited untameable
Take the helm of your life
Set sail with courage
Kindred souls will uphold you
Eat the wisdom fruits of trees and earth
Drink the elixir of ecstacy
Luxuriate in love
And you too will be FREE"

[Earthwoman]

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