Because I’m writing seriously (before, it was just an hobby) I don’t have time to visit and read many posts. So I’m not going to take up many prompts. It isn’t so much the writing of the poem or the piece of flash fiction that takes the time, but visiting and commenting on the other responses. This poem, my treat for having finished my daily word count is in response to Jilly’s Days of Unreason challenge. The Harrison quote
“I’ve spent a lifetime
trying to learn the language of the dead”
~ Jim Harrison from Sister in Songs of Unreason
also unblocked the Secret Keeper’s weekly writing challenge to use these five words, or synonyms, sort of:
MAD | CLEAR | MUDDLE | CASE | SOLVE
Mad in the midst of moonlight,
In the midnight clear,
The poet puts a rowan berry on his tongue,
And as the juice, red as her lips,
Bursts in sweetness and parted clouds,
That clear the honey-haze from his brain,
He speaks the language of the lost.
All the tangled, brambled and briared paths
He has walked since the day she fled
Grow straight and soft beneath his feet.
If he should meet her in the glade
He would know now how to catch and keep
His love, his own, his fleet white hind.
Great first line. Such mood created. Enjoyed this one
Thank you! The two prompts put me in mind of Yeats.
A beautiful fairy tale 💜💜
I pinched it from Yeats 🙂
Yes I thought I knew it, yet you made it your own 😊
🙂
Write On! Jane! Yeah you!
I am! I aim to have this last book finished by mid August 🙂
That’s fantastic! 😊
It will only be the skeleton, but the revision (and revision and revision) is always the fun part 🙂
Mythological feel here, Jane. The rowan berry and the hind. This poem bleeds and feeds my poetic soul!
Madness always makes me think of Aengus, and talking to the dead also.
Great fairy tale, Jane! Thank you, and have a wonderful weekend. Michael
Thank you! You too!
I see the Yeats influence. Lovely poem, Jane!
I like the reward of writing a poem, too, but I agree it is the visiting and commenting that takes time. (I’m behind on that now.)
Thank you. Yes, the Yeats came immediately to mind when I added the language of the dead to madness. I don’t mind if no one comments, so don’t feel obliged. I won’t be doing as much as I ought anyway. I’m not going to post to the dverse linky because I just won’t be able to visit all the other posts in return.