Friday 6 May 2016

smashed sounds...





smashed sounds deform memory... I 
remember when the House of Song welcomed new flowers, and temples would have
sacred hymns and dances, waiting for the time when jaguars should have been
given the right to succeed. Jaguars are always looking
for Quetzalcoatl, accepting his musical peace, his wisdom refined for
the chant of drum or flute.  Sadly, my
                                              song meandered into a mish-mash of literary left-overs. My own
                                              personal, interpetation of a cultural room
                                              is now reserved for
                                              some
                                             claustrophobic breathing time
                                              squeezed among
these
smashed sounds, decomposing in my... ruins




NOTES
I used a poem by Mexican poet Coral Bracho -
translated by Tom Boll and Katherine Pierpoint.
The poem is called Among These Ruins.
(The last word of each line, read vertically, represents a line from this poem = The Golden Shovel Form).
The early images I describe represent Aztec culture and their love of poetry.
I was surprised that poetry was an essentail part of the educational curriculum.

flower songs - combined the sacred with worldy themes in poetry.
jaguars - represented warriors in poetry.
Quetzalcoatl - patron deity of the cities and giver and teacher of poetry.





Linking to:
d'Verse Meeting the Bar: The Golden Shovel form

9 comments:

Kim M. Russell said...

I love this phrase: claustrophobic breathing time
squeezed among
these
smashed sounds

brudberg said...

Gemma this is just wonderful (and sad)... and so well done with that image. I read it very much as the personal touch with the way you have processed the image... Love the Mexican touch.

De Jackson said...

Gemma, I LOVE this. The culture you have captured, the shape, the flow. Your use of the original line. Just beautifully done.

debi said...

Your poem is esp., strong because of the long lines getting smaller...
decomposing into ruins. Really nice.

AnotherFearlessYear.net said...

This has a really nice flow to it, and I like the different line lengths. It didn't see at all forced to fit the original line for the end words.

PattiKen said...

I like this. The end carries a real poignancy.

kaykuala said...

Sadly, my song meandered into
a mish-mash of literary left-overs

It can happen sometimes when one is distracted. The idea is to get up and jump out of it immediately. Especially wonderful lines Gemma!

Hank

PSC said...

Love the way the Aztec themes are woven throughout -- nice work!

Sherry Blue Sky said...

I love this poem read as is, and then loved it even more once I read the last words of each line vertically. Very cool.......I love the jaguars, looking for Quetzalcoatl.

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