a patterning of flame

Tags

Anglo Saxon, Animism, Eostre, Ostara, Spring, Spring Equinox, Tanka

 

 

throw back

this sheet of sky…

sun breaks

in the rushing of the weir

earth breathes underfoot

 

hollow

the hush of the reeds

when we speak her name,

wet our lips with her fruits

and share her grain

 

her smile

is a patterning

of flame on water …

singing in her veins 

she takes the offering

 

who  remembers

the long forgotten dead?..

a breeze stirs

the willow catkins

a thousand distant suns

 

every cell of green

grows in inhalation

whose blood is this…

coursing in my temples

in the hooves of horses?

 

~ 

 

Claire

Spring Blessings to you all!

The Sway of the Branch ~ a tanka sequence

Tags

gogyohka, Poetry, robin, Tanka

you taught me

the colours of birdsong

how a blackbird

can sing the morning sky

bluer than a dunnock’s egg

~ ~ ~

I feel your smile

at the corners

of my mouth…

the sway of the branch

when the robin has flown

~~~

hours before you died

your heartbeat against my ear…

nothing is certain

when the mountains

gather mist

~~~

as if the storm

had never passed

thirty years later

cold rain at my window

and still you don’t return

~~~

at rest

the butterfly tilts its wings

against the breeze…

a subtle shift in the light

the way you brushed my hair

~~~

making my way

from the tangle of a dream…

is that your voice?

all at once the forest path

is strewn with spring flowers

~~~

 

In memory of my father:

Eric James Price

8/4/1930 – 12/1/1981

by Claire

Be Well, Be Whole – a tanka set

Tags

Anglo Saxon, Lunar Eclipse, micropoetry, Modranect, Modraniht, Moon, Mothers' Night, Photography, Poetry, Tanka, waes hael, wassail, winter, winter solstice, Yule

In celebration of winter solstice 2010 (Mothers’ Night to the ancient people of this land)

a tanka set by Claire and Amy (13)

 

 

undeniable

berries of fire thorn

burn through snow…

my mother’s fighting spirit

I feel it in my veins

 

all the words

you have given me –

the joy of poetry

you have carried for so long,

now I carry it with you

 

in a sconce

of blackened hedgerow

a robin’s flame…

her light in your eyes

finding joy in such things

 

winter

fierce, yet beautiful…

from the deep, dark

undergrowth, a tiny wren

lets out a huge song

 

low winter sun

a candle’s flame reflected

in a copper bowl –

the further I travel,

the closer we are

 

a candle lit

to welcome the light…

we toast our hearts

on a fire of thoughts

filled with snowdrops and sunlight

 

showered with love

you gifted us with moonlight…

after Mothers’ Night

blushing behind dawn’s veil

this lunar eclipse

 

have I ever said

‘thank you’ for the gifts

you give each day?

the rising of the sun

and the rising of the moon…

 

paralysed one side

you walk a jagged path

through lightning

to sit with the neighbour

terrified of storms

 

don’t be afraid…

see winter’s peaceful smile

in every snow~laden berry

and remember there’s always light

at the end of the tunnel

 

in the darkest depths

I feel the slowing

of her pulse

yet the light of spring

quickens in her womb

 

no matter how dark

and no matter how cold

it feels now

she’ll never forget how to bring

us warmth in the turning year

 

waiting for a sign –

out of the blue

a gust of starlings

makes sense

of an unfathomable sky

 

when you need it most

someone, somewhere

will bring you hope…

I throw a crust

to a hungry sparrow

 

the longest night

her lips on the cold cup,

‘be well, be whole’…

rising in the east,

robin song

 

___

 

 

“Waes Hael!”

Be Well, Be Whole!