04-23-2016, 08:09 PM
(This post was last modified: 04-23-2016, 08:27 PM by RiverNotch.)
Tiger: I don't find the title as pressing to the poem as it should be (reread might fix that), but otherwise, I love it, especially the double feeling of loss in the poem, and -- damn! -- I find losing records (though all of mine were given me by internet friends, *aherm* *aherm*) probably one of the worst sorts of loss, at least in an immediate sense.
LE IUGEMENT: MAYA
This is what the masked figure took from me
as I passed through her domain, escaping
the hot swords and heavy hooves of the Prince's men:
first, she took my cloak, silver silken cloth
adorned with scenes of the humble farmer's life,
from birth to death, from youth to fatherhood,
the contentment of an age in passing;
second, she took my staff, sturdy stick of cedar
rounded at the bottom, pointed at the top,
the power of my intelligence, the spring within my step,
the honor behind my love, the confidence of my sex;
last, she took my ring, a golden cordÂ
with the ends stuck together like the great serpent
encircling the ocean, its heart a drop of blood
encased in a jewel engraved with my name.
But alas! that she did not remove her mask,
did not reveal the living flesh beneath her cloak --
that the jealous God would deny me the pleasures of love.
LE IUGEMENT: KALI YUGA
Apparently, the teacher who introduced me
to the pleasures of Caravaggio
and the crises of El Greco
died today --
just fell a few steps
and hit her head, four years
after she last gave birth, three years
after she handled us, two years
after I'd set off for college -- about a year ago.
Usually, this sort of news
just pops up on the internet,
but this time I had the luxury
of being called. I had to make an effort
to sound like I was on the brink of crying,
as it was in the middle of class -- Analytical
Chemistry, I think, the one I failed that year.
I think that was also the year I started writing.
L'Etoile, La Lune, Le Soleil, Le Iugement -- I think that's all the cards I'll directly tackle. I hope this little experiment worked!
LE IUGEMENT: MAYA
This is what the masked figure took from me
as I passed through her domain, escaping
the hot swords and heavy hooves of the Prince's men:
first, she took my cloak, silver silken cloth
adorned with scenes of the humble farmer's life,
from birth to death, from youth to fatherhood,
the contentment of an age in passing;
second, she took my staff, sturdy stick of cedar
rounded at the bottom, pointed at the top,
the power of my intelligence, the spring within my step,
the honor behind my love, the confidence of my sex;
last, she took my ring, a golden cordÂ
with the ends stuck together like the great serpent
encircling the ocean, its heart a drop of blood
encased in a jewel engraved with my name.
But alas! that she did not remove her mask,
did not reveal the living flesh beneath her cloak --
that the jealous God would deny me the pleasures of love.
LE IUGEMENT: KALI YUGA
Apparently, the teacher who introduced me
to the pleasures of Caravaggio
and the crises of El Greco
died today --
just fell a few steps
and hit her head, four years
after she last gave birth, three years
after she handled us, two years
after I'd set off for college -- about a year ago.
Usually, this sort of news
just pops up on the internet,
but this time I had the luxury
of being called. I had to make an effort
to sound like I was on the brink of crying,
as it was in the middle of class -- Analytical
Chemistry, I think, the one I failed that year.
I think that was also the year I started writing.
L'Etoile, La Lune, Le Soleil, Le Iugement -- I think that's all the cards I'll directly tackle. I hope this little experiment worked!