Pneumatological Enigmas (click to hear the poem read)
Spirit-Sophia thunders into me
shatters my specious separations
fallacious wavering hesitancies
with surrender secures
never violating
breaking my heart wide open
amor procedens vivifying
renewing empowering grace
initiates novelty
breath of life
multitudinous interchangeable
kymographic nodes
puzzle internal sacerdotal scarabs
in a chary zenith
viewed from subsuming positions
into gestalt being
self-referential prosody
breeds halophytic
warranting dirges
of the laciniate self
behold the vast mysteries
elegiac verandas groan
elliptical protasis tumbles
tensive veracity guarding
explicitly bellicose religions
floating away in the saline
self forming requiem masses
grim obscurantist phrases
offer vivace caresses
baronial cobalt gems
defame the evolute kerfs
terminating in elegant periods inglorious
obligatorily wedged sideways
she is unknowable unseen
I am unknowable unseen
philia of artist poet composer mother
imago dei spiritus creator
beneficent power indwelling
breathing blowing wind of being continues
under pneumatological ramifications
trailing labile nilpotent agnosticism
willful xenophobic fatigue
curvatures inundated by magniloquent manners
choirs crying glorias unending
Longing unshackled
from romantic notions
desire released from ambition
exigent memories of Grace and Muse
awakening experience
sweet liberation cherishing the immersion
into lost moments of eternity
Spirit-Sophia whispers
follows my impatient steps
desire of intimacy encompassing presence
immensity reaping meritocratic enigmas
overflowing sensate resistances
in a deep awareness of otherness
Note: Spirit-Sophia is the name given to the Holy Spirit in Elizabeth A. Johnson’s awe inspiring book SHE WHO IS: The Mystery of God in Feminist Theological Discourse © 1992.
Chromapoetica 
a deep awareness of otherness…i like…Spirit-Sophia seems to be quite the powerful lady, thundering, invading and shattering specious separations…whew
she is unknowable unseen
I am unknowable unseen..i much like the hiddenness and intimacy in these lines anna
Thanks Claudia, hope you successfully closed all those third eyes to sleep (and that they didn’t give you surreal dreams).
I love how aware you are of whats out there, amazing write.
Thank you David, glad you enjoyed it.
you really do play language beatifully…even though i understand little of it you hit a rip there toward the end that just flows in the longest words…smiles. i really like the echo of her being unknown and unseen, then you….acknowledging that you could be or are her….
Thanks Brian, I so appreciate you keep reading and appreciating what speaks to you.
a magnificent concert of words – you play the word game like an expert conducter directing her orchestra toward an ecstatic goal. so sweet to read and absorb the power of your beautiful writing.
my third eye is winking ;-}
Thanks, I needed a laugh, hope your work tonight was cathartic and/or an emetic not an SOS.
I come into the pyramid and find many treasures buried with the pharoah in this poem. Lovely chaos. I like these lines though I take issue with their message:
self-referential prosody
breeds halophytic
warranting dirges
of the laciniate self
behold the vast mysteries
elegiac verandas groan
elliptical protasis tumbles
tensive veracity guarding
explicitly bellicose religions
floating away in the saline
self forming requiem masses
grim obscurantist phrases
offer vivace caress
This poem has so much implicit hypertext it takes a number of readings. excellent–xxj
I’m sorry if I’ve offended. I can only speak from my point of view. Thank you for engaging the work and commenting.
Working on freelance projects this afternoon, I’ve been watching “The Secret Of Kells” on Netflix, an animated gem about a book once described as “the work of an angel.” Beams of its gilded lucence here too, exquisite page of Sophia’s sacred secret breviary, glowing on outside the cathedral walls that turned to dust after they banned Her. A postchristian psalm to the “unknowable unseen” if there ever was one … Her catacombs are so resonant in the aesthetic heart … Brendan
Oh Brendan, you’ve done my heart a good turn tonight. Yes, the glowing outside the cathedral walls! I too enjoyed The Secret of Kells, young Brendan defiant yet with a heart so full of love and open to mystery. Thank you, thank you.
I’ve got to check out that book. I have a lovely print of Sophia hanging in my office that so fits the spirit of this poem. Wish I could share it with you–I don’t even know who the artist is. My preferred approach to God is through the Holy Spirit. The last stanza is my favorite.
Victoria, Elizabeth Johnson is a catholic nun and I found the book life altering. I too prefer the mysteries and presence of the Holy Spirit as my connecting point to the Triune God. Mysticism works better for me than cataphatic/apophatic theology. I have a wonderful painting of St. Sophia with her daughters Faith, Hope, and Love that I found at Bethany on the Jordan. Thank you for reading and commenting!
You have me doing some research. The poem is way kool, written top notch and I can hear it performed. Excellent!
http://henryclemmons.wordpress.com/2011/08/27/yet-still/
Thank you, Henry, so glad you enjoyed the performance.
Mysterious and crafty use of some words I don’t even know… had to get out my dictionary. I especially like the second to last stanza… it reads smoothly and says so much.
Thanks Laurie for reading and delving into the enigma of the poem. I enjoy getting out my dictionary!
Sophia is also wisdom – and the reading both changes and stays the same with that different definition. The use of language here is both beautiful and alluring — pulling one further into the poem. This is lovely, Anna.
Thank you Glynn, yes wisdom works well here too. I appreciate your kind compliment.
I love the wealth of image and language in this Anna. The scientific, the technical, even the medical terms, put into the service of the Mystical Divine, and the humility underlaying the grand themes, that She is We, and vice versa. Just lovely, and I very seldom connect with religious themes. But I do love the Inner Light, as you shine it here.
Thank you Joy, I worked hard on its revision and presentation before posting thinking of how helpful your light was for me last night. My mantra was ‘make a path’ (though my poor husband couldn’t find one after a few readings and I eventually thought I’d just have to carry on :)). One of the things I love about the experimental form is that it allows me to show the reader my deep respect, giving each ample room for interpretation and connecting points to enter into dialogue. I’m honored we found a place to enter that dialogue within this poem and that we can sing our own songs but enjoy the way they sound together.
beautiful visions
language of interdependence
systemic grace
Thank you Janet, so lovely to see you again, how well you capture meaning in a few well chosen words!
This is amazing and you are in tuned with the third eye. I enjoyed this so much.
Thank you Sarah for your kind comment!
For me, this speaks to the awareness of source…a vessel all can rely on no matter what name you may give it. Again, more than one reading will be necessary…only because I’m off to learn more of this which you speak, so I can better tune myself to your song. I am always left in awe at your command of language…it makes me want to know more 🙂
That’s good, I hope to draw you in, get your intellectual curiosity primed so to speak. Thank you again for your encouragement and feedback.
I see my daughter’s name (again) in your post, and of course it reminded me of her, and the source of her name.
Thank you for opening my eyes to the life story of the beautiful nun.. I must read the book. Your word play is in abundance, but I gather it is her spirit and life that you are giving honour.
You may not know this, but you quoted my real name twice in this post. Happy day to you ~
I didn’t know that I used your name, so no worries I won’t tell anyone else :). Thanks for reading and I hope you enjoy the book.
So much depth in this beautifully composed write, but I must admit it also took me to the dictionary.
Thank you Mary, I enjoy looking up words in the dictionary – I hope you do to.
I feel the passion that you put into your writing, Anna, and it is inspiring. I too must reach for the dictionary and often have trouble following the meaning of your expression. Even so, I can feel what you put into it and so appreciate that.
Thanks, the experimental pieces are designed to spin thougths, metaphors, and images around, glad the passion comes through.
My mind/brain is exhausted…:) I will be getting my dictionary out too… maybe this afternoon I will endeavour to get my head around this one….unfortunately work calls…:)
Sorry to hear you have to work today, thank you for stopping by and leaving a comment :).
this is awfully good. I don’t know what else to say…I think it blew my mind a little. love the Sophia allusions.
Thanks Jesse, that’s made my day!
Independant interpendance stupends Sophias spiriting allusions ~ performed on a grand stage ~
Thank you for your comment; I think interdependence is the nature of reality.
I felt the divine flow with your words, really beautifiul, wonderful…I want to investigate the book….personally been going through a ‘phase’ of rejecting what I once just embraced…so ripe for a bit of exploration..thank you…
Exploration is a vital part of life; so glad this resonated with you! Wonderful to have you stop by for a visit.
I made a frantic mistake to look up a few words while your mp3, thank you for that, spoke in the background… Then the words I haven’t heard in years.
A really electrifying piece I am re-reading and listening to in hopes of understanding not just the words but the gestalt :).
Thanks Leonargo, it’s nice to see you visiting again. Glad you’re getting something from it!