Without a Prod, the Light Still Sings

Franz Marc, The Fate of the Animals

Monday Morning Musings:

“And all being is flaming agony.”
–Franz Marc, killed in battle in WWI, this inscription on the canvas of his painting The Fate of the Animals

Do you need a prod?
Do you need a little darkness to get you going?
Let me be as urgent as a knife, then,
and remind you of Keats,
so single of purpose and thinking, for a while,
he had a lifetime.
Mary Oliver, “The Fourth Sign of the Zodiac,” from Blue Horses

“Deep in the human unconscious is a pervasive need for a logical universe that makes sense. But the real universe is always one step beyond logic.”
― Frank Herbert, Dune

Caught between never
and never again, we watch
skies flame past sunset, colors
echoed in streaming blood—
as robin’s breast and blackbird’s wing

sing the red of spring.
Is it logic that we seek
in tumbling waves and earth’s spin?
The continuity
of sprouting green wakened seeds

though no blue horses
prance in meadow grass—never
separated from their young
by ricocheting shells,
they live on in painted visions

after the artist
is gone–a truth, as beauty
we see around us greening,
singing, winging light, echoes
of stars, their ancient dust within

^{A peaceful early morning.}

our cells. We ingest
fallen traces of before,
tidbits of eternal time–
passages or gateways?
As gulls catch light with fish, swooping

from river surface
to rise in feathery clouds,
we glimpse blue obscured by grey,
till blue appears again.
Shadows walk hand-in-hand with light.

War and the seasons—things we can count on to appear
over and over again.

Daffodils almost ready to bloom

March is as capricious as ever. Winds blow in cold air, then warm. Today is unseasonably warm. It’s already 70 F, but we have a wind advisory, possible thunderstorms later, and then back to colder temperatures. We had hoped to do something outside yesterday, but though it was warm, it was damp and dreary, then windy.

We watched the movie After Yang (Showtime). It’s sci-fi only in that it concerns an android and is set sometime in the future, but it’s really a family drama. It is about what makes a family and what does it mean to be human, as well as exploring love and parenting. To complete our sci-fi Saturday and Sunday, we watched the new version of Dune (Amazon Prime rental, also on HBO max). I read the books a million years ago and saw the earlier movie. Of course, this was meant to be seen on a big screen, but it was well-done. The movie touches on the layers and allusions, and wars it seems still go on, even in the future.

Family Laundry

^{Franz Marc, Flatternde Wäsche im Wind, 1906}

Family Laundry

The breeze brushes, caresses, slips its fingers
into pockets, cradling words dropped carelessly
with the loose change,
lifting the conversational lint embedded in variegated threads—
don’t forget to pick up the milk,
look at the moon, remember yesterday—
I can’t believe how big she’s getting.

The wind slaps feelings from the sun-warmed fabric, dangling
them before judging crows and mocking-birds–
the baby’s desire to be held, the mother’s desire to be held,
the father’s desire—his tough-guy persona flies from his undershirts.

Now the mother’s too-tight skirts wait to dry,
wait to be put away in a box, replaced with the loose garments
she wore only too recently.
Not again, they sigh.
All the clothes flap in unison,
another mouth to feed, more clothes on the line.

For dVerse Open Link Night, another ekphrastic poem from my prompt on Tuesday.

A Time for Everything

^{Franz Marc, “Large Landscape”}

A Time for Everything

There’s a time for wind and storms
that blow and beat and will not stop

for ships at sea
and stars above—or me—

but spring whispers
to get the garden dressed,

cast off the dun, and wreath
the ground in yellow green

as honeyed shine make petals pop
and robins hop to sing

in answer to the murmur from beneath.

Now, even as the black-clouds scream,
the fiddle sounds from rooftop wings

the argent light of midnight moon
to hum in sync until pink-petaled bright

the dawn comes slight–yet still
we ask if peace will wake

and the wind answers,
almost always, in the after.

My poem from the Magnetic Poetry Oracle. The poem was not inspired by the song Turn, Turn, Turn, but it went through my head after I wrote it and was reading it over. Of course, the Oracle knows everything.

February–With Spring in the Air

The after-sky dreams red
a thousand times,
sings fiddle-sweet as bitter black is cast away

again

light me with color-song–
a thousand blues together,
the river murmurs
over and over
and honey-tongued earth breathes green.

And if ghosts come
with their fevered night secrets,
they vanish in caramel clouds
and champagne breezes laugh
to scatter pink-petaled magic
like smiles in morning light.

Last night it got very windy, but this morning is warm for February–about 50F when I got up. But, we’re supposed to have rain turning to snow after midnight tonight. Sigh. The Oracle knows all this, of course. The world is very strange right now, but even crazy truckers and conspiracy spreaders can’t stop spring from coming eventually.

An Echo of a Thousand Whens

Franz Marc, The Dream

The ancient light, an echo of a thousand whens,
a beacon to the ship, blown off course in shadowed seas, while

somewhere, a fiddle sings, in notes
that soar with if

under clouds, above mountains, crossing rivers,
carrying dreams of blue ponies and verdant lands,

carrying moon-whispered secrets
that you almost remember

when you wake to taste the peach-burst sun
on your tongue and hear the universe’s wild poetry
in wind and waves–and its laughter in birdsong.

My poem from the Magnetic Poetry Oracle. Looking at the image I chose after I wrote the poem (but thinking of the blue horses), and now seeing the lion in it, reminds me that a month or so ago, I had a dream of a house and a lion who came and cuddled with me. (We also re-watched Fiddler on the Roof this week.) The Oracle really does know everything. 😀

Seeing Red

Franz Marc

I’m love, lust, and power,
I’m the rose scenting the bower

with perfumed bloom–
I’m scattered in rooms, laid on tombs,

in garnet spread, the shade with which we toast the dead
the luscious wine, merely one mourning thread,

or sip of seduction. I’m the crimson of celebration—
the color of flags and war decorations.

I’m the moon cycle of daughters and wife–
I’m the blood of death, the flow of life,

I stream from wounds and birth,
and nourish the earth

with youth blown dead, as poppies yield
to battlefields

still, bright color pops
amid remains, a buzzard-swoop, a rat hip-hop,

with berry-stained fur—
all the kings, politicians, and battles were

for what? Scarlet puddles, decayed remains,
only ghosts born from these labor pains.

I’m the she-wolf’s cry,
and the vampire’s sigh

beyond all understanding–
I am the light of the universe expanding.

A late entry for Mish’s dVerse prompt to “slip out of our human bodies and become nothing but a color.” I would normally pick blue, but decided to go with something different. 😀 I’m also linking it to Open Link Night. It’s a live session, but it’s my husband’s birthday, and we’re going to do a birthday project together instead.

A Dream of Ancient Light

Franz Marc, The Dream

 

Born of ferocious fire clouds—

angel or ghost?

An almost there, like

a trace of perfume lingering

in the indigo night

from bright blooms blanketing fields

in colored harmony

 

~vivid and haunting~

 

somehow like a dream–

of verdant paths with deer and ponies,

where we bird-fly over the bluest river

into the secret of when

and what was, and here—

we follow tendrils of sun-songs

to the ancient light of then and if. . . forever.

 

The Oracle made me work for this puente today.  The humidity has lifted, and a mockingbird is putting on a concert in my backyard.

 

 

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A World of Blue Horses Wakes

Franz Marc, Blue Horses

 

Clouds of coffee and steel part with a blush,

red sky voices the universe’s secrets,

ghosts of stardust, born in brilliant dazzle,

lingering, exploring time,

 

~and all the ifs~

 

dance on a green breeze’s laugh

letting you picture the possibilities–

a corduroy heart can be patched,

a world of blue horses wakes. Listen.

 

Another collaborative Puente with the Oracle, though most of the words came from her, and she clearly likes color.

 

 

 

 

The Poetry of If

Franz Marc, Dreaming Horse

 

Blue magic perfumes the night

(and ghosts are almost here)

in my heart, embracing

haunting, breathing secrets

of eternity

 

~and the universe~

 

throbs and dazzles–

there a star dances,

and voices wake

laughter, joy–

the poetry of if

 

A collaborative poem with the Oracle. She seems to be fond of the Puente form.  I think the blue horses must dream blue magic.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Wonder in Rainbowed Worlds

Franz Marc, Blue Horses

 

Wonder

as bright stars fill

night sky without design,

arranged by chance, dancing light sings

through time

 

find peace

in prismed glow

sparking within your soul–

rainbowed worlds where blue ponies graze,

content

 

I’m feeling the need for the blue horses today–a Crapsey Cinquain sequence for Colleen’s Tanka Tuesday, using synonyms for plan and spend.