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Publishers of Inspirational Books
MIND, BODY & SPIRIT, CRAFTS & PRACTICAL GUIDES
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DANCING THE ROUNDS — By Rasunah
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My personal objective is to write poetry with distinctive qualities which might have an appeal which is truly borderless. Many of the poems may be seen as ‘responses’ to literature (such as Kinanti as a response to the Ozymandias poem). Some of the shorter poems are simply vignettes or 'statement' poems. Another theme is that of 'voices' or speakers from past or present centuries. Those of earlier times embody the timelessness of archetypes, or possess archetypical elements: Cup Woman, Isti's Sutra, Hyacinth, I Point the Ways, Kartini and Kinanti are examples. Another theme is the narrative element, either subtle or obvious. Finally, while most of the poems are contemporary in style, those with lines which begin with capitals are intended to be understood as formalized, where the subject tone might be grave, prayerful, eulogistic, or ceremonial.
Rasunah
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DANCING THE ROUNDS
this page & I dance by lamplight in nights
before modern conveniences
I join hands with the ancestors
who jigged & drank
thru log cabin living rooms
in the rugged bays of lakesides
whose tree-scraped skies
were cluttered with the spirits of World Wars
& I join hands with all the brown-eyed children lost
or abused and the families whose spirits
are still being broken by anger & greed
by the shadowy flicker of lamplight
I step gingerly over borders centuries old
& watch the repetitive fall of kingdoms
& the lives of princes & saints unfold;
in fields of revelation unceasing
exquisite orchids grow
as I drive to this valley
ringed with the history of desert survival
loved ones past & present recede,
recede into landscape,
are submerged in memory -
so many leaves under snow
the wake of creation,
is littered with the detritus
of what we are: as under a lens,
still transparencies,
(or only so many hurled stars);
are traced onto the page, fleetingly
until it is folded & yellowed
in the dance of worlds,
the pulse of her blood thru our hearts
enlivens the play of words
in time which sanctifies or existence which typifies
the natural illumination of all things, between particles
of dust which permeate the air we breathe,
between shadows irradiated by lamplight on the screen,
dust, leaves, stars scatter, are folded away
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This poem, Dancing the Rounds, has been set to
music scored for narrator, soprano singer, bass
clarinet, piano, and drumming group by the Canadian
composer Peter Skoggard
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WHAT MY GRANNY SAID
in understanding the suffering of those which one helps
no one can fail to be a human being
if there is something to be afraid of
it is not to be a human being
you live in a gone world
I don’t have to tell you why
take care of yourselves
was one of her messages
the suffering of others is not worth agonizing about
it is worth contributing something toward
care of others needs to be learned nowadays
save a part of your capacity for -
not the agonizing, but the doing…
“do” through your talents
so that you develop yourself as you develop others
if you have forgotten others, you have forgotten your self,
you have forgotten your soul & your humanity
many are afraid they will not survive the suffering of others
but in fact may draw strength from this kind of fear
live for the day that your contributions may be made
& the day that notice taken by others
of your contributions becomes meaningless to you
on that day you are rich in spirit
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TURNING
there you are walking inside me, I check
& at first you are younger, then I check again,
& you could be older
& without the weight that you carried here,
you just wore it here
were you the one I loved here
or the one I loved there
now I can say
you were both
who were you that I knew when you were here
that told me a secret,
ah yes, I recognized you…
the child of God, the one
who had no children
came to live here again,
child of the father, who then had no father
this time had a father
was loved here by those who could not glimpse
that reality, so much so,
I never mentioned what it was to anyone
now you are with your original father, still peaceful
now in blue robes
so who was i
that I was here & now you visit this woman
whose mother has passed away, who wonders
who was I that you knew when you were here
we shall go back & turn & turn
we may go back to the very beginning
when there were two women, Lilith & i
when there were two brothers, you & cain
who shall we be, then & now, & tomorrow
how shall everything change, again…
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Dreamstairway, Unit C18, Maws Craft Centre, Jackfield, Telford, TF8 7LS. England
Contact : Raymond Foster at : raymond@dreamstairway.co.uk Tel : 01746 861330
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