Saturday, February 15, 2020

C Is the Call That Wakes All the Beasts in Your Barn

Pink pen, my favorite of eight, filled with brown ink, my favorite of eight, wounded, probably permanently, nib's ajar, attempted to write in tablet last night and splurt, fine metaphors abound, I ordered a replacement now that I am sideways and failing word tablet and seem only to sideways half-well (ymmv) without words








    
ALPHABET

Robert Kelly

A is the arrow that reaches the end
 
Z is the girdle that tautens your soul

 
B is the cabin you built in the woods

  
Y is the yew tree that stands by the door slim and tall

 
C is the call that wakes all the beasts in your barn

  
X is the crossroads where you wait day and night for a friend you call Love

  
D is a door you welcome them through

  
W is the wine you beg them to share, but true Love is abstemious and temperate

  
E is the little sign pinned to the door meaning come in come in if you are who you think you are

 
V is the dull knife you cut the cake with, makes plenty of crumbs you feed to the birds

   
F is the flag that flutters on your roof or the light that flickers from your eyes—you decide

   
U ah, U is the mystery, the bend in the river, the voice from the ground

   
G is the gold in the eyes of a panther or the coins on a plate, you stick them in meters or give them at church

  
T is Christ’s cross, Woden’s hammer, the double ax of Crete, the end of the road

  
H is woman who tells you to build,
and also the house you obey her and make, and then your joyous breath, almost exhausted, welcomes her in

  
S is the sound all things make as they pass—listen hard and listen soft and cherish the differences

 
I is the girder holds up the roof you think but the house still stands when you snatch it away--so what can it be?

 
R is that very roof over your head and the other outer, the big blue one over your head where it all begins

 
J is the enlightened saint you will become, some of you are him or her already--listen!

  
Q is always a mystery, isn’t it, quail in the thicket, queen on her throne, the day the fates appointed for your going, or coming at last

  
K is the candle you need in the daytime, the taste of food, the bird song that wakes you then you go back to sleep

 
P is the traveler you spot on the hillside, the hitchhiker on the highway you can’t decide to pick up and you’ve passed, but P is also the hand he waves to you, the hand you dream about, your hand on someone’s shoulder or knee

  
L is an outing on the meadow, loll on the lawns and look at heaven, heaven lets you see it clearly them, you lie on your side and look at a friend

 
O is the well your mother showed you once, told you of the Milk Lake where you were born, O is the organ they play in the church
but you don’t go anymore, you have a well of your own

 
N is the fish that swims through you when you’re afraid, dark sea, o voyager, even on the brightest day

 
M is the middle, mama, Athene’s owl gazing both ways at once, M is meaning and M is the mountain you climb to call yourself by your secret name, out loud, and the eagles will hear it forever.

3 comments:

  1. from the alphabet poems book - robert kelly writes

    maybe we are Makers, the Scots word for poets

    the online etymology dictionary tells us

    poem (n.) 1540s (replacing poesy in this sense), from Middle French poème (14c.), from Latin poema "composition in verse, poetry," from Greek poema "fiction, poetical work," literally "thing made or created," early variant of poiema, from poein, poiein, "to make or compose" (see poet).Spelling pome, representing an ignorant pronunciation, is attested from 1856.

    and speaking of scots, there's a book published in this century:

    Ailice's Àventurs in Wunnerland (Alice's Adventures in Wonderland) (Scots Edition)

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  2. Good writing from Davidly. Couldn't agree more. On capitalism, I think we could be more precise and call it predatory capitalism. I suppose it's possible that there could be a more benign form of capitalism but the main problem with capitalism is that it's run by humans. Need I say more?

    Before Mayor Mikey will participate in the next debate (Are there more? Most would hope not) all the candidates will be strip searched live on tv as per requested by Mayor Mikey. And as we all know, all good liberals are staunch enemies of racism wherever it may be found, and that's why they'll support a multibillionaire who is a known racist, warmonger, parasitic poop-head, but an otherwise perfectly acceptable candidate for Executioner-in-Chief. And this is what we all need to consider is that the job in question is that of head executioner. They all know they will be killing innocent people because that's in the job description. So it's something to remember before you pull the lever or get all gushy for your favorite murderer. Our government, as it is now and has been in the past, is one of the most vile entities anyone could imagine. It's right up there with the worst of the worst. And taking part in the rumored election is to say it's all okay with you. You approve of what's done in your name. But people have told me I'm wrong about this so yes, it's just an opinion, and we know what those are worth.
    I'm not saying don't vote, because I really don't care one way or the other if anyone does or doesn't. I'm just saying it's something to ponder. Or not.

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  3. speaking of MFPD -

    https://www.richardsilverstein.com/2020/02/15/democratic-think-tank-censored-islamophobia-report-fearing-anger-from-michael-bloomberg-a-major-donor/

    from this:

    One of the signature tactics of [the Center for American Progress's Neera] Tanden is to relentlessly attack Bernie Sanders via social media. No doubt she still nurses a grudge that her gravy train, Hillary Clinton lost the 2016 election and blames him for it.

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