Confluence & Ode to My Muscles

Image description: A young woman seen from behind, clutching the top of her head. The muscles of her back are strained and ridges of her spine visible. From Pixabay.

I'm taking a break from Kevarya this week to showcase some recently rediscovered poetry from 2015. It's somewhat hard to believe that three years have passed since I wrote these, but in a way, it makes sense, since they had started to fade from my memory.

Both poems deal with the relationship between mind and body, exploring both the positive and negative sides of physical awareness. Confluence contains references to characters you may recognize from other posts, while Ode to My Muscles deals with a topic I've rarely touched upon here: my experience as a disabled person.

So, without further ado, here's...

Confluence &

Ode to My Muscles

Curst Be He

On the left, John Donne, 17th-century poet and priest, painted by an unknown artist circa 1595. On the right, William Shakespeare,17th-century poet, playwright, and wearer of a stylish earring, attributed to John Taylor circa 1610.

Good friends, 'tis the four-hundredth anniversary of William Shakespeare's death (and possibly his birth as well). As avid members of the Shakespeare fandom celebrate the Bard's legacy across the Internet (and Anti-Stratfordians raise a clamor of unnecessary consternation on behalf of the real author of Shakespeare's plays, who is undoubtedly Francis Bacon/Edward de Vere/Christopher Marlowe/a time-travelling Lin-Manuel Miranda), I asked the characters of an ongoing project of mine what Shakespeare means to them.

"Why don't you ask him yourself?" said one necromancer, Miss Siona Donne. She promptly proceeded to throw open a curtain, revealing not only the zombie of her ancestor John Donne, but a Zombie William Shakespeare as well. (Zombies, in this universe, are well-possessed of their minds and do not require a diet of brains, barring the results of any fits of nostalgia they may have for Tudor-era chicken-brain blancmange.)

This brought many, many questions to my mind. Is this the reason Shakespeare's skull is missing from Holy Trinity Church? Didn't Shakespeare put a curse on his grave, and if so, what would it do to our gutsy necromancer? What's the relationship between Zombie Shakespeare and Zombie Donne? And why would someone want to raise Shakespeare from the dead in the first place?

Of course, the only acceptable answer comes in the form of a short story.

Good frend for Iesvs sake forebeare,
To digg the dvst encloased heare.
Bleste be the man that spares thes stones,
And cvrst be he that moves my bones.

—epitaph of William Shakespeare, inscribed on his grave at Holy Trinity Church

Copper and Stardust

Photoshopped by me. Image source credit to NASA ([x] and [x]). The image of the stars is titled "Chaos at the Heart of Orion," which is an absolutely gorgeous title that I might use in a story someday.

Newer readers will remember A Winter's Ball, the first and currently only excerpt from a novel I am working on (read: doing everything but writing). This is a bit of world-building for that novel, exploring the Kevaryese culture's belief in how the universe came to be.

I have always loved world mythology, and particularly creation myths. It always surprises me how similar these ancient cultures' stories are in their imagery, even when many of the cultures had no way of interacting with each other. This myth doesn't have a Creator figure, but rather is centered around the idea that the world came from a union of sky and earth, as the Egyptians and the Ancient Greeks both believed, and the interaction between the darkness and the sun's light mirrors the Chinese concept of ying and yang. However, I like to think I added some unique elements to this story. I'll leave you to figure those out for yourselves.

So, without further ado...

Copper and Stardust:

A Kevaryese Creation Myth

Translation: The Huron Carol

"Reconstruction of a Huron longhouse for the film "Robe Noire," site of la Nouvelle-France, Saint-Félix-d'Otis, Québec, Canada [tr. Amanda Grace Shu]." By Pierre5018 (Own work) [CC BY-SA 4.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0)], via Wikimedia Commons.

I know what you're thinking. What's a Christmas carol post doing on my blog in January? Do I not know that Christmas is over?

Well, to that I say, 1) Hey, it ain't over until Epiphany happens, and 2) I didn't have this translation ready at Christmas, because I didn't discover this song until after Christmas, and I can't stand to wait another year before sharing this with you all.

The Huron Carol is Canada's oldest Christmas carol, written by a Jesuit priest named Father John de Brébeuf, later canonized as one of the patron saints of Canada. (Yes, yes, here I must admit I'm American, not Canadian, but I'm a nerd, so of course I know who the patron saint of Canada is.) Father John lived among the Wendat/Huron people and wrote this carol in the Wendat language, making this one of the first texts written in Wendat. A popular English translation was created by Jesse Edgar Middleton in 1926, but his translation has been criticized for its confusion of different native cultures and Western use of broad generalizations about what they think "Native American" culture should be. Nevertheless, alternative translations are few and limited to a few verses as in the Heather Dale cover of the song in English, French, and Wendat.

I discovered this carol through Heather Dale's song and went digging for a direct translation from Wyandot to English, the only one of which I found at Diversity Tree. Andrea Shallay, author of the Diversity Tree article, writes: "I was moved by the intimate and respectful tone of the original lyrics. Instead of using made-up native images to fit a nativity story, it is a theological discussion tapping into images and values shared by both Christian and traditional Huron beliefs. Cultural references are not thrown around lightly, nor is the meaning of the images compromised for either party. It is not a tool for conversion because the lyrics require the Huron people to share what was important to them just as Father de Brébeuf could share what was important to him. I find the traditional lyrics of the Huron Carol to be a carol of respect and cultural exchange, attempting to translate meaning across cultural boundaries."

With this as my mission statement and both the direct English translation and the French translation as my guides, I set out to write a rhyming, metrically-fitting English translation of the Huron Carol. Note: I do not speak Wendat at all and am not a member of the First Nations. If my translation is inaccurate, disrespectful, or is surpassed by a translation written by a member of the Huron tribe, please defer to those from whose culture this song comes. If you are a member of the Huron tribe or speak the Wendat language, do not hesitate to contact me with notes on this translation. I am always eager to learn more.

The Huron Carol

Comprendre (Poetry on the T Contest Winner!)

Banner for Mass Poetry's Poetry on the T program, which is featuring my latest poem this month.

 Fantastic news! My poem Comprendre was voted one of two student winners of Mass Poetry's Poetry on the T Contest! During the month of May, seven Red Line trains shuttling people throughout the Greater Boston Area will be proudly displaying my poem, hopefully brightening the days of busy commuters through the power of creative writing. Huzzah!

Mass Poetry is a marvelous organization that organizes the Massachusetts Poetry Festival each day, so be sure to look at their website. To read the three other contest-winning poems and soak in the astounding art paired with them, click here.

THE OMNISCIENCE: Miles to Go and Do Not Go Gentle

I actually stumbled upon this quote on my AP English midyear exam. Thanks, English Department! I love you all, I really do.

I figured it was high time for another Omni excerpt, given that I've shared a disproportionately large amount of them at Runaway Tales. If you're anxious to read more of Omni, just head over here and take your pick of Omni-related stories.

So, without further ado, I present to you...

Miles to Go Before I Sleep

and

Do Not Go Gentle

Juliet

Guess whose 450th birthday it is today!

I've writ a special poem for you all

to celebrate the great Bard's day of birth,

four hundred fifty years, not an age small,

that he hath brought us tears, love, war, and mirth.

So if you readers patiently attend,

an ode to Billy Shakespeare I will send.

JULIET

Azure

Azurite and malachite, both of which appear in this poem. From http://www.roomservicestore.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/AzuriteMalachite2.jpg.

Azure

The Omniscience: Nevermore

Photoshopped by yours truly. I don't own the words, as they belong to Edgar Allan Poe, nor do I own the picture of the raven. 'Tis from  http://csicreativesceneinvestigation.files.wordpress.com/2013/04/sketch__undead_raven_by_michifromkmk-d5n804p.jpg.

Since I shared this with the folks at Runaway Tales on LJ, I figured I would share this with you lovely folks on this blog, too. It is Chapter Six of The Omniscience, written from Lilah's perspective, and was initially inspired by the prompt, "all that we see or seem is but a dream within a dream" (a Poe quote), but eventually wound up being more about Poe's The Raven through the very complicated series of events that is the writing process.

Nevermore

New Millennium

Neither is race. Or education, for that matter. Source: http://www.n2growth.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2012/09/Checklist2.jpg, via the Google Machine.

This poem won second place in World Unity Inc.'s 9th Annual Poetry Contest on Diversity and Inequality. To be honest, I think they were looking for something a bit less... challenging of today's world to be in first-place, but hey, as long as there's a nice certificate and recognition for a poem I loved writing, I'm ecstatic. :D

They like me! They really, really like me!

New Millennium

Magnetic Poetry

From http://normalteens.files.wordpress.com/2009/06/magnetic-poetry1.jpg.

 As a poet, sometimes it is hard to find the words to express an idea you barely have forming in the back of your head. But sometimes, the words are already given to you, and from there on you can create meaning through arrangement, often yielding unexpectedly beautiful results.

Summary of the above: Poetry magnets are fun.

Magnetic Poetry

"This young electric instrument," created with my Art teacher's poetry magnets.

"His Lordship Drunkard," created with my own Shakespearean poetry magnets. 

The Holly and The Ivy

Christmastime is here... unless you don't celebrate Christmas. But for those who do...

Reflecting on the Lessons and Carols service I heard in church last Sunday, I rewrote the lyrics to the classic Christmas song "The Holly and The Ivy" to bring the Ivy into prominence alongside the Holly--Jesus' life alongside Jesus' death. The lyrics appear under the cut.

Happy Holidays to all, and to all a good night!

The Holly and The Ivy

Maya & Matilda: Mock Orange Style

Photo by D. Sharon Pruitt--part of a flyer advertising Mock Orange, the publication in which "For Maya and Matilda" has been published!

Readers may or may not remember the poem "For Maya and Matilda," written in the style of the inestimable Maya Angelou, but I'm happy to announce that it has been published in the debut issue of Mock Orange Magazine, a new literary magazine featuring fiction, nonfiction, poetry, and art from girls and women ages 14-25!

This issue can be bought for $6 at CreateSpace here. It will also be available through Amazon.com starting next week.

Like Mock Orange on Facebook here and visit their website here.

Career Goal Report: a pentametric poem in six parts

This, this is just sad. This is the page image for the Occupational Outlook Handbook's article on "How to Become A Writer or Author".  The caption? "Freelance writers may have to manage multiple assignments simultaneously." Gee, is that all?

 As a junior in high school, I get a lot of pressure about what I plan to do with my future. Usually, when the subject of college is brought up, I just pretend to have spontaneously transformed into a cat. However, a "Career Goal Report" was required for Physics class, so I grudgingly did some research about my chosen occupation, the marvelous and wonderful world of creative writing... and turned in this as my report.

Career Goal Report:

a pentametric poem in six parts

Ezekiel

From http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/62/Columbian_mammoth.JPG/250px-Columbian_mammoth.JPG. It's a Columbian mammoth skeleton.

 So, I just returned from the Juniper Institute for Young Writers summer program, and thus have a ton of new work to show y'all. One such work is one of three poems inspired by a trip to the Amherst College Natural History Museum. Our group's task was to observe the colors of the museum and write about them in a more realized, inventive way.

The first thing I saw there was the bones of a Columbian mammoth, whose real ivory tusks were in a display case to the side.

Hence, this poem.

Ezekiel

Magniloquence

Taken from http://youthvoices.net/sites/default/files/image/10913/apr/selfesteem.png, courtesy of The Internet, as usual. Image apparently depicts all the labeling and pressure put upon young girls in the media that leads to low self-esteem— the very things that the speaker of this poem is attempting to defy in her "magniloquence."

High time for some optimistic poetry, eh?

I don't like to boast. No, really, I don't. That's not just me being modest. I don't like boasting.

That being said, this assignment for Creative Writing Class was deemed a "boast poem," though I prefer to think of it as a "confidence poem." Excuse any arrogance that you may perceive while reading this—it's part of the prompt, I swear. As was the rhyme scheme. And the number of lines. And the Maya Angelou and King Lear allusions, though I was happy to put those in.

Magniloquence

(or, A Boast of Epic Proportions)

Sonnet & Villanelle

Picture is taken from http://totheshore.files.wordpress.com/2010/04/quillpeninkwell1.jpg, courtesy of The Internet. (I seriously hope I don't get sued for that phrase sometime in the future.) It depicts a quill pen and ink, evoking Shakespearean sonnets. These poems are not quite the same as those.

Neither of the two poems I'm sharing with you today are exactly what their titles imply.

The first, a "sonnet," happens to be not of love, but of anger and even hate. Also, it is (somewhat mercifully) not directed towards a specific person, as many sonnets—be they romantic or accusatory—are. The second, a "villanelle," is written not in villanelle format, but in sonnet format. It too has a dark tone, though it is the lack of emotional articulation ability, rather than the presence, that lends it this. (It was written to be spoken in a play by an android incapable of feeling.) Grouping the two poems together is thus natural—both are melancholy sonnets that do not quite fit the connotations of their forms.

I seriously hope these poems do not upset you all.

Sonnet & Villanelle

For Maya and Matilda

From http://loveforliana.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/12/footprints-snow-love-for-liana.jpg, courtesy of The Internet. 'Tis a very lovely image, methinks, and evocative of certain phrases from this poem.

Poetry fans, you're in luck--the next several posts on this blog will contain a plethora of poetry, as I have recently had to complete two collections of poetry for school. The assignment for this one was to write a poem in the style of another, more famous poet, so I have attempted to imitate the poetic style of the inestimable Maya Angelou.

Another inspiration for this poem was the story of Matilda, Lady of the English. I don't think you have to know her story to understand the poem, but it might help.

For Maya and Matilda

Angels

The Presentation in the Temple by Jean-Baptiste Jouvenet, the painting in the Smith College Museum of Art that hath inspired this poem. It depicts the Biblical story of presentation of Jesus in the temple, with a mournful-looking woman in the lower left-hand corner.

 Another one from my summer at Smith, but a poem this time!

This is one of my favorites from the poetry I wrote at the Smith workshop. We took a field trip to the Smith College Museum of Art and came up with poem ideas based the paintings we saw, then went back to the classroom and wrote them. There are probably twenty other ideas that I wrote down, but this is the only one  that has actually been written (so far).

For some reason, it was ridiculously hard to find an image file on the internet of this painting. 1) Jouvenet painted two "Presentation in the Temple"s, the other of which is more well-known; 2) I had been spelling his name wrong for half of my search; and 3) those that I did find had watermarks on them. But I did find it eventually, so here it is in all its glory.

Enough of my rambling, which is probably longer than the poem itself. Enjoy!

Angels

(after The Presentation in the Temple by Jean-Baptiste Jouvenet)

Flutter By, Butterfly

From http://spiritofsage.files.wordpress.com/2012/01/dlw-reiki_butterfly_hands-9015235_std.jpg. Image depicts hands sending up a butterfly. This was the picture that accompanied To Sing to a Butterfly in the OSC Summer 2012 Reporter.

You may remember from a previous post that my "To Sing to a Butterfly" poem had inspired an in-progress piano prelude by composer Erik Gustafson. Well, that piece of music is complete, and it is absolutely stunning!

Here is the link so that you all can listen to it yourselves:

http://erikmusik.net/ToSingToAButterfly.mp3!

So, let's all have an internet round of applause for Erik Gustafson! To check out more of Erik's wonderful work, visit his website at http://erikmusik.net/.