for Velvetina Purrs (Thank you)
(this is not a retelling of myth but a new story, a flourish of poetic license)
for a long time now
(yet what are millennia to me?)
I, Athena, have wanted to sing you into being
garnering potency from introspection
the universe is expanding
spinning, weaving, my mantras
into a nascent song
I was born bloodied by the cleaving
fully formed Tritogeneia
the universe is expanding at an ever increasing rate
Metis, root of my strategic mind
my gifts of freedom raise civilizations
Atrytone, the unwearying, dianoia
as a long period comet reaches its aphelion
theou noesis (mind of god)
for a long time now
I have gathered the necessary cistrons
laid them before the axis from where
all beginnings arise at the base of my olive tree
Athena Parthénos in my aspect
I culled the Arctic Ocean, searched my Carina Nebula,
ground Himalayan salt, rang Buddhist bells,
bound pterodactyl wing bones with wolf fur
faceted padparadscha sapphires and stole Ayres’ Hinba
to merge with my vast dark within
parthenogenesis: incanting the ritual mysteries of your birth
daughter arise!
the first to fashion yourself
blue fire hair, Boulder opal eyes, glaukopis
art’s child, you see through iridescent irises
Nova Aetas
speaking you shift what is known, what is knowable
oh, olive branch, each leaf bearing my name
Athena Hygieial, healer
Aphaea, an invisibly numinous being
Altheonóa, ethonoe, en ethei noesin
defender of moral sagacity, flawless virtue,
a cunning intelligence, owl-woman reclaimed
your flight is a miracle of liberty!
Okay, this seems to be the day for synchronicity in blogdom. Hedge and I both wrote with a Spanish accent, Dark Angel and I both wrote about whipping cream, and you and I (on my story blog Night Blooms) both mentioned parthenogenesis. I mean, really girl. Pathenogenesis, bless it’s red-headed little heart, is not exactly a literary staple!!! *laffin*
Beyond that, Athena is a special favorite of mine, with her owl, and with the Excedrin headache she left dear old dad to deal with.
Anna, may I add your blog to my side bar at Word Garden? *not waiting for an answer, she rushed off to do it* If it isn’t all right, let me know and I’ll remove it.
Oooo, I’ll have to go read your story that’s too funny. Oh, thank you very much I’m honored to be on your side bar :). Well, great minds and all that jazz…
What a wonderful voice, and song, here Anna! Athena with Calliope whispering in one ear and Euterpe in the other. (And don’t worry, neither you nor Fireblossom can ever gush too much for me, because i tend to more than return the favor or fault with you both on a regular basis.) I love the entire section between theou noesis and parthenogenesis, and of course the before and after, but that line “…bound pterodactyl wing bones with wolf fur / faceted padparadscha sapphires..’ just made my soul lift. This is one I will reread again later, dictionery in (mouse)hand to get to the dark chocolate ganoush, but for now the light richness of the buttery croissant enfolding it is filling me up and delighting all the taste buds.
Thanks for assuaging my fears about gushing; I have a great deal of enthusiasm in general and in particular for your poetry :). A lilt in the soul is a good thing indeed, glad I could be the giver today. Oooo dark chocolate, excuse me I have to go find some…
this is wonderfully mystical anna…love the warm colors, mysterious voice and great images…the himalayan salt and buddhist bells…so much vast space in this…
Thanks so much Claudia, glad you’re hosting tonight!
oh …and LOL on your comments on my blog…haha…
I laughed until my face hurt, thank you.
nice…a well spun tale with many a fancy word, but i think i kept up along hte way…really nice and creative in all the thigns gathered there at the gates of creation…sing on….
Thanks Brian, they’re mostly latin and a little greek but so pretty and VelvetinaPurrs is a big fan of latin. Always enjoy your visits, excited for OLN! Oh, and thank you for the retweet!
very complex write! beautiful… Great work
Thank you Anthony, I enjoyed yours too.
You sure like to cover the ground Anna.. and do it in such style. This is one of my favourites of yours.. and amidst the luscious variety fo language I adore cistrons beneath the olive tree.. wondrous. You made my day..
Ah, thanks Becky, you’ve just made mine :). Yes, cistrons, I always find such poetry in science.
Take that creative license and own it. I loved this!
Thanks, it’s so great to see you making the rounds!
A wonderful write, Anna. Love the images…..
Thank you, I’ve been meaning to set these beauties into silver or gold for a while now but got rid of my torch. I’ll have to pay someone else to do it.
Have you read David Jones? He mined for lost Welsh gods the way you excavate Athena in her epithets and etymologies. Like panning for scattered traces of a magnitude, the pieces resonate back through the centuries as well folds of psyche to find the animated notation within. My only suggestion is to favor aesthetics over exposition. If you know too well where you’re going, there’s less to discover. A minor suggestion, the poem really is fine. – Brendan
I haven’t read him, I’ll have to look him up. I pulled the etymologies from Plato and I’m sure some of it was quite old then. Thank you!
Tremendous write. Conjuring myth is so fun. Love the way you constructed this and the language flows wonderfully. Thanks for the read
Thanks, good to hear it flows!
Oh, you should definitely take poetic license more often. Thoroughly enjoyed the fruits of your creative imaginations!
Thanks for the encouragement Lori!
How imaginative and creative you are… I like the colours and weaving of the elements, all fascinating in the ritual of birth ~ (you souned like a priestess)
Thanks for sharing this ~
Thank you Heaven, what a kind compliment, I enjoyed your mythic verse very much.
This would sit well amongst the ancient tales and myths. What a fabulous tale you wove!
Thank you, I wanted to say something new but in a way that didn’t feel out of place.
Truly rich. An amazing evocation of being.
Thank you Joanne, I like how you’ve put that ‘evocation of being’.
Truly stunning.
Thank you Mama Zen, always lovely to see you here.
Oh the ancient tales and myths I use to love so much in school when we study Greek Gods and their stories. This reminds me of the times of the God wars in ancient Greece this is wonderful and I am so glad I have read this
http://gatelesspassage.com/2011/09/27/addiction-to-solitaire/#comment-1201
Thank you, I’ll come by to read your poem soon.
I’m not sure that I did fully keep up, though I loved the richness of language and image, this stanza particularly:
I culled the Arctic Ocean, searched my Carina Nebula,
ground Himalayan salt, rang Buddhist bells,
bound pterodactyl wing bones with wolf fur
faceted padparadscha sapphires and stole Ayres’ Hinba
to merge with my vast dark within
This seemed funny to me, and I hope I’m not wrong there==I tend to be very literal.
Ah, you have something in common with my husband :). I’m generally not a literal thinker so I’m always surprised by it. Glad you enjoyed the rich imagery.
Dear Athena, you sure get around and dip your delicately powerful fingers into some amazingly interesting pies.
And you made me Google cistron. A gene! An important one (not a water vessel.)
By anyway, back to your bloody cleavage, olive branches, and wolf trimmed prehistoric bones…
This is WONDERFUL!!
xo
You are just a laugh a second tonight! Bloody cleavage, too much :)!
speaking you shift what is known, what is knowable
The Goddess is well honored by your reweaving of her tales!
Thank you Charles, that’s very kind and I appreciate you responding to my reply on Morphing Electroacoustic Transducers. I just wanted clarification, always nice to see you here, I’ll be by to hear yours soon. I’ve been having a terrible time with Blogger and my internet connection so I’m slow in making the rounds.
So many incredible images in this poem but the line that struck me: sing you into being. Love that concept. You weave amazing myths, Anna.
Thank you Victoria, it’s lovely that you’ve returned. It’s strange you mention that line because it was the impetus for the entire poem :).
Loved your mythical tale ~ “bound pterodactyl wing bones with wolf fur” is seriously cool!! 🙂
Thank you, I’m so glad you enjoyed it.
What a consistent tone and setting for a very compact, thought-filled poem. Had to run to the dictionary for “padparadscha” but having done that, I can say this poem has generally has a padparadscha hue.
I love the references to creation — both oblique (universe is expanding) and more direct (incanting the ritual mysteries of your birth) — the birth of a universe without a father.
I also like that you know the universe is expanding faster and faster (the Zumwalt poem runiverse: http://zumpoems.com/2011/07/29/runiverse/ leverages this concept) — what amazes me about this phenomenon is that there are areas that though moving below the speed of light are, in relations to other areas of the universe effectively expanding away faster than the speed of light.)
Very impressed!
Thank you for your kind and thorough comment and for referring me to your poem!
Oh gosh I need to bone up on my Mythology! But what wasn’t Greek to me, I enjoyed. I especially like the underlying feminine power that ran through it.
Wonderful, don’t worry it was greek and latin to me too :).
Thank you Anna……lovely…….
You’re quite welcome!
Love the mythical, mystical nature of this– it transports you to a whole other realm. 🙂 beautiful.
Great to hear it transported, thank you for coming by to read.
Space swirls and time tumbles through these wondrously woven words…you are a great craftswoman Anna…you have such a keen eye for materials and such an array of tools… 🙂 // Peter.
Thank you Peter and especially for the weaving reference :).
intriguing write ~ Rose
Thanks Rose!
I love to learn about mythology and I love your poetry. That’s a win-win for me, Anna.
Thank you Joe, what a lovely compliment.
I got lost ( in a good way) in the magical quality of this. Glad you liked my animated poem. The rest are under the”animation” tag on bottom of my blog. Apple Dance is my personal fav 🙂
Yes, sorry I didn’t respond to this comment (everything the last few weeks has been a blur :)). Your animated poems are delightful!