i
Moonfog Madrone formed a spell
From holy words and threats of hell
It spread across the fallow field
And got inside a church bell’s peal
ii
“Come forth my lovelies the bell sang;
Come home to whence thou sprang.”
And come they did, ghost flowers and trees
Spirits of birds and honeybees
iii
The procession lasted two days one night
The field became a phantasmic delight
Spirit birds sang cemetery songs
In an elysian spring forever long
even the name is spookier than a spooky thing in spookiland. Nice.
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Thank you Diane
Madrone trees are a “pushy” bunch. They will reach branches between those of neighbor trees (no matter what kind) if it is to their advantage. This often results in “arms” like Moonfog’s. Many trees, like Oaks, give off a personality of sorts– which is true about the Pacific Madrone.
Thsnks again!
Leila
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I’ve never heard of a Madrone
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looked them up. spooky looking guys
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Hi Diane
Madrones have a very narrow area of existence. Which is good given their attitudes!
Leila
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Hi Leila!
The reappearance of Moonfog in Part Two is a masterful stroke!
Every taut line in this short, but vast and deep, poem, SINGS.
I’m especially drawn to this line:
“Spirit birds sang cemetery songs” …
THAT is a truly resonant, beautiful, and haunting (in the good way) line in a poem filled with beautiful, haunting lines.
Someone once said that the greatest literature takes the everyday world and returns it to the reader, all-new. Things that everyone can see if their eyes are open, like trees, are given fresh life in the best poetry. (I think it might have been James Joyce who said that, and even if he didn’t say that, he did that, except he stopped short of venturing into the spirit world until he came to the largely unreadable yet fascinating FINNEGANS WAKE, and you cross the line, which is more profound, bringing the magic of a fairy tale into the reader’s view.)
You infuse the world of nature with magic or draw out the magic that is already there. Not sure which it is, or maybe it’s both – either way, this is REAL POETRY, obviously in touch with the Ancient Muse in an all-new, 21st century, re-invented kind of way.
Thank you!
Dale
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Good morning Dale Thank you ever so much. I have a thing for trees, for me they are incredibly interesting living works of art! I usually do four stanzas but Moonfog only wanted three.
I also like alliterative (one of the few grammar terms I know) names. He began as “Moondog?” No. “Moonfrog” What? Then something clicked on fog, one of my better names.
Thanks again. Off to work, two more weeks til school’s out for me! Leila
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Leila, had no idea you had a website til tipped off by Dale. Wonderful. Very best wishes on your upcoming retirement (‘upcoming’ deliberately chosen there). And I look forward to episode IV. mick
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Hi Mick
Thank you! Yes, I am now retired.
Thanks for coming by!
Leila
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