The Bishop and the Butterfly: Murder, Politics, and the End of the Jazz Age
    Wattree's picture

    Genesis

    BENEATH THE SPIN • ERIC L. WATTREE

     
     
    GENESIS
     
    As I walked the sandy shore in wretched sadness,
    the mighty surf reached out to me.
    Its thundering voice spoke not of cold, dark fathoms  
    or the mystery of desolate expanse,
    but whispered softly of an endless moment, 
    that moment when we were one.
     
    It  spoke of a time, before time, when time stood still,
    when we danced as siblings 
    enraptured against the breast of God.
    It spoke of the mighty thrust, 
    that eternal moment
    that cast creation 
    into the windless void to meet its destiny–
    he the mighty sea, destined to caress the shore,
    and me, the eyes of creation, 
    smiling back upon itself.
     
    The awe of its ageless mystery 
    embraced me in the familiar warmth of eternity,
    as its timeless roar 
    gently began its song -
    a love song  
    whispered to a loved one’s ear - 
    a love song of eons past,
    but of a love that’s always near:
     
    “Oh, sweet sibling,
    I embrace your pain,
    but this too shall pass,
    and we’ll be one again.” 
     
     
    Eric L. Wattree
     
    Religious bigotry: It's not that I hate everyone who doesn't look, think, and act like me - it's just that God does.

    Comments

     

    Lovely. 

    It reminded me of a couple of other verses.  First, the other Genesis, of course:

    "the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters."

    But mostly, Wordsworth:

    "THE world is too much with us; late and soon,
    Getting and spending, we lay waste our powers:
    Little we see in Nature that is ours;
    We have given our hearts away, a sordid boon!
    The Sea that bares her bosom to the moon;
    The winds that will be howling at all hours,
    And are up-gathered now like sleeping flowers;
    For this, for everything, we are out of tune;
    It moves us not.--Great God! I'd rather be
    A Pagan suckled in a creed outworn;
    So might I, standing on this pleasant lea,
    Have glimpses that would make me less forlorn;
    Have sight of Proteus rising from the sea;
    Or hear old Triton blow his wreathed horn."


    Oh, you had to say Wordsworth! Here is the sky after storm from The Excursion:

     

          A single step, that freed me from the skirts               830
              Of the blind vapour, opened to my view
              Glory beyond all glory ever seen
              By waking sense or by the dreaming soul!
              The appearance, instantaneously disclosed,
              Was of a mighty city--boldly say
              A wilderness of building, sinking far
              And self-withdrawn into a boundless depth,
              Far sinking into splendour--without end!
              Fabric it seemed of diamond and of gold,
              With alabaster domes, and silver spires,                   840
              And blazing terrace upon terrace, high
              Uplifted; here, serene pavilions bright,
              In avenues disposed; there, towers begirt
              With battlements that on their restless fronts
              Bore stars--illumination of all gems!
              By earthly nature had the effect been wrought
              Upon the dark materials of the storm
              Now pacified; on them, and on the coves
              And mountain-steeps and summits, whereunto
              The vapours had receded, taking there                      850
              Their station under a cerulean sky.
              Oh, 'twas an unimaginable sight!
              Clouds, mists, streams, watery rocks and emerald turf,
              Clouds of all tincture, rocks and sapphire sky,
              Confused, commingled, mutually inflamed,
              Molten together, and composing thus,
              Each lost in each, that marvellous array
              Of temple, palace, citadel, and huge
              Fantastic pomp of structure without name,
              In fleecy folds voluminous, enwrapped.                     860
              Right in the midst, where interspace appeared
              Of open court, an object like a throne
              Under a shining canopy of state
              Stood fixed; and fixed resemblances were seen
              To implements of ordinary use,
              But vast in size, in substance glorified;
              Such as by Hebrew Prophets were beheld
              In vision--forms uncouth of mightiest power
              For admiration and mysterious awe.
              This little Vale, a dwelling-place of Man,                 870
              Lay low beneath my feet; 'twas visible--
              I saw not, but I felt that it was there.
              That which I 'saw' was the revealed abode
              Of Spirits in beatitude: my heart
              Swelled in my breast--'I have been dead,' I cried,
              'And now I live! Oh! wherefore 'do' I live?'
              And with that pang I prayed to be no more!

    MARVELOUS!


    Nice.  Maybe even more majestic than Xanadu.


    Could be--Wordsworth focuses on the creational aspects of what he's looking at, only hinting at the existence and activity of the engine that makes it all go, whereas Coleridge seems to be pretty interested in the recreational and procreational aspects of the majesty....

    Thanks Eric, Emma, and Richard--it's been awhile since poetry.


    This is just great.

    Creative corner is alive again.

    Thank you!


    Where the hell you been?

    This is really filled with so many images in my head (I am nuts about Genesis) that it is hard to respond.

    But damn! Thank you for coming to creative corner and handing this out!

    'a love song of eons past'

    WOW!!!!


    Somebody needs to haul out some Keats so we'll have the trifecta.


    I'm glad that poets still remind us that the difference between the sea and the shore is at least 52% illusion.


    Wow! I'm overwhelmed.

    You guys have placed me in the midst of some pretty good company, but I won't let my head swell until I can do it without the support of Horace Silver in the background.  He can make a nursery rhyme sound profound.

    Thanks for making my day.

    Eric