The school year crowds forward and my creative projects have to take a back seat. Here are the elements of my novel whirling inside its own soulmap.
To Be Worthy
Muse of all Muses, my musing Dzonoqua,
Sleepy giantess, you stand like a cedar
In the cedar shadows, swaying
In your endless dream.
I cavort inside the fire’s light,
Cut capers, pass my hat:
Money for the monkey.
Sometimes you flare awake,
And I see your sunken eye pits
Whirl with stars, suns,
The slow cold spiral of distant galaxies.
I have seen you turn away and run,
Remembering your rich lodge
Hung with furs and fossils,
Basement caves and crystals,
The lost bears in the hot mist
Rising at the far end
Of your home meadow.
And I have followed you there,
Although there were times you captured me with a gesture
Beckoning me near,
My cautious approach,
Fire warmth dimming on my backside,
Then your thick, black fingers
Like beaver’s leathery paws
Closing on my shoulders,
Lifting me like a recalcitrant child,
Popping me in your burden basket with a smack
Of your bright red lips.
Jostled, scraped, bleeding,
I have been muted by your distances,
Unlocked finally, tumbled
Foolishly down among your riches,
One more toy on the floor.
I have seen the chief’s wealth you guard.
You have dressed me in my miniature
Button blanket set the cedar bark wreath
Upon my unruly curls: You have fed me
Wilderness in a stew of venison and drums.
Dzonoqua, you have tried to teach me that song
As the crying wild geese passed over and I have stood
And sung after them, understanding for a stanza
My place in the family of all who tell the story, wear the mask,
Dance the song.
Dzonquah, giantess, my captor and keeper:
Twist my wire arms and let them hold
Your necklace of shining pitch.
–Sandy Jensen
what happened to the other one?
YIKES, heavy duty stuff. THe first image of the awkward hybrid creature- I can relate. The future is simmering with the rich stew of your ideas, images and ideas. We know that the future is full of good stuff but it is all so dark and unformed, awkward, the dish not yet assembled. We can barely smell the fragrance of the raw ingredients until we apply some heat.
The Emily Carr images are perfect with your poem Dzonaquah. The poem is very strong – certain to be picked up by a northwest art publication. For me, these are the most impactful lines in the poem. They are also the last, so I assume this is intentional and a very good thing.
You have fed me
Wilderness in a stew of venison and drums.
Dzonoqua, you have tried to teach me that song
As the crying wild geese passed over and I have stood
And sung after them, understanding for a stanza
My place in the family of all who tell the story, wear the mask,
Dance the song.
Dzonquah, giantess, my captor and keeper:
Twist my wire arms and let them hold
Your necklace of shining pitch.
Fabulous work!