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Du Gamia, Du Fria
“You love & lose & bleed best you can, to the extreme, hoping
that one day the world will read you like the poem you want
to be.”--Charlotte Eriksson.
I hear it now: Thou Ancient, Thou Free,
though I’ve never been, ever the absentee.
I think of prehistoric Svealand,
before Beowulf, even before the Viking,
before patriots an anthem could sing,
Remembering when the land was covered in ice.
I hear it now: Thou Ancient, Thou Free,
though I’ve never been, ever the absentee.
After the great lakes receded & hunters could
roam vast forests for red deer, moose, & firewood,
& petroglyphs appeared in caves of gneiss,
remembering when the land was covered in ice.
I hear it now: Thou Ancient, Thou Free,
though I’ve never been, ever the absentee.
Glenn Buttkus
Posted over on dVerse Poets Pub Poetics
Bjorn wants us to write to images of Swedish petroglyphs. I wrote a Sonnetina Rispetto.
I think the petroglyphs might reverberate from a time when the land was pristine, when the forests vast, and the rivers wild.. a very nice interpretation Glenn... indeed before a nation or the Vikings.
ReplyDeleteHumankind certainly has come a distance..I wonder what it would have been like to be that wild and free.
ReplyDeleteExcellent! One of your very best. I read this with tears in my eyes. This style suits you very well. And I went all free verse!
ReplyDeleteThe repetition and melodiousness of this poem is just gorgeous - and I love that sense of space and wildness. That absenteeism gave me pause for thought, too - the lands that were never empty.
ReplyDeleteReads like an ancient hymn, almost a prayer for the land covered in ice ~
ReplyDeleteAnd terrific use of the form Glenn~
Absolutely wonderful....!! One of my favorites :D
ReplyDeleteGoodness...this has a musicality to it that made it a joy to read! Thank you!
ReplyDeleteI'm not familiar with this form, Glenn, but the repetition within it was quite striking in describing the time. I liked the line "before patriots an anthem to sing." Now that was a long time ago, because we know how people love to sing their anthems. Excellent, Glenn.
ReplyDeleteLovely approach. It feels wistful while also engaging.
ReplyDelete"I hear it now: Thou Ancient, Thou Free,
ReplyDeletethough I’ve never been, ever the absentee." Oh, the cadence to this is simply lovely! Another meaningful write. Beautiful.
Glenn, This has a chant like feel I could hear distant drums. Yes, I could drum a bit to this.
ReplyDelete"I hear it now: Thou Ancient, Thou Free,
Ah..
ReplyDeletepetroglpyhs
Glenn.. pen
is of Shaman
wordless
image
strong as
Shaman
now where
Shaman
still dares
to dance
tall and erect
as sacred trickster
and warrior too.. oh..
what is forgotten is still
remembered by some on
the walls of then and some
flesh and blood photos today..
in it.. in doing it.. real now.. spirituality
and lust and creativity are one whole soup
of human magic then and the real deal now..
with the warrior/trickster/shaman sacred
stuff IS mixed in
then and now.. too
for so long
i am absent..
my friend Glenn..
but seriously
i'm here
now..
sMiLeS..
i knew that only you and
me will even be brave enough
to utter the world phallus
as it is obviously the
core of
what
most of
the art is
about.. the
core of human
creativity that
drives all stuff
human imagination
and dreams to fruition
dry or wet they are the
REAL
DEAL..
smiles again..
to learn to
employ it
in
moderation
and balance
as a perfect
practice of
ART..
is the
real
magic
pArt of
human creativity..
set free as potential..
So who will dare to do
it in full purview now..
a few still
Will and DO..
in the greater
freer human
naked
dance
of LIFE..:)
very evocative...could visualize the pristine world with these ancient souls....
ReplyDeleteWondrous, love that you've focused on 'what came before'.
ReplyDeleteTheir reputation preceded them though one has yet to see them. An artistic adventure it sustains itself for a long time!
ReplyDeleteHank
A chant, a song a benediction to those hardy souls.
ReplyDelete