RISING I am fresh mountain, rising resting high 'bove restless seas mouth spewing fiery fountain molten magma, finally flowing free ten-thousand deaths below, yearning churning, lost 'neath country-rock ceiling fingers burning earthly-shell aglow crystalline cooling, unsealing sulf'rous steaming superheating, stellar-screaming launching, lifting, liquidating body birthing, bomb-blast beaming seabed bursting, unfurling thun'dring-dome, detonating ... I am bright fissure, billowing pillowing lava at bottom ocean forbidding throat sprouting riv'letting river moulting meteors, descending, quenching, strata extending, steepening, dark-spire reaching heating halo roiling sea-surface boiling breath holding, exhale exploding pyroclast plumage, soaring, lightning crack'ling uncoiling I am, ten-thousand glassy spheres, raining gazing east at dawning-sun blazing eyes seeing mirrors rising-star seers towering torchlight, unveiling fresh mountain creating ... I am, fresh mountain, rising I am, tall mountain, standing I am, old mountain, misting drifting sea breeze 'mongst blooming heartsease foot blessing crashing-foam fountain surging sea-spray, finally flying free
+ Contemplations
+ In a first-person poem, who is “I”?
When a first-person poem is read silently, is the "I" of the poem the author? Is "I" some unseen narrator? Is "I" the entity in the poem that appears to speak, who says "I"? (e.g. the mountain) When a first-person poem is spoken aloud, is "I" the speaker? If a reader speaks the poem out loud as they read, who is "I" then? Could "I" be a larger collective of individuals with a singular external identity? Who stops the reader or listener from imagining themselves as "I"? Can more than one meaning of "I" be valid? Could all possible meanings be valid? How does the meaning of a first-person poem change with pronouns other than "I"?
+ YOU are rising…
You are fresh mountain, rising resting high 'bove restless seas mouth spewing fiery fountain molten magma, finally flowing free ten-thousand deaths below, yearning churning, lost 'neath country-rock ceiling fingers burning earthly-shell aglow crystalline cooling, unsealing sulf'rous steaming superheating, stellar-screaming launching, lifting, liquidating body birthing, bomb-blast beaming seabed bursting, unfurling thun'dring-dome, detonating ... You are bright fissure, billowing pillowing lava midst ocean forbidding throat sprouting riv'letting river moulting meteors, descending, quenching, strata extending, steepening, dark-spire reaching heating halo roiling sea-surface boiling breath holding, exhale exploding pyroclast plumage, soaring, lightning crack'ling uncoiling ten-thousand glassy spheres, raining gazing east at dawning-sun blazing eyes seeing mirrors rising-star seers towering torchlight, unveiling fresh mountain creating ... You are fresh mountain, rising You are tall mountain, standing You are old mountain, misting drifting sea breeze 'mongst blooming heartsease foot blessing crashing-foam fountain surging sea-spray, finally flying free
+ WE are rising…
We are fresh mountain, rising resting high 'bove restless seas mouth spewing fiery fountain molten magma, finally flowing free ten-thousand deaths below, yearning churning, lost 'neath country-rock ceiling fingers burning earthly-shell aglow crystalline cooling, unsealing sulf'rous steaming superheating, stellar-screaming launching, lifting, liquidating body birthing, bomb-blast beaming seabed bursting, unfurling thun'dring-dome, detonating ... We are bright fissure, billowing pillowing lava midst ocean forbidding throat sprouting riv'letting river moulting meteors, descending, quenching, strata extending, steepening, dark-spire reaching heating halo roiling sea-surface boiling breath holding, exhale exploding pyroclast plumage, soaring, lightning crack'ling uncoiling ten-thousand glassy spheres, raining gazing east at dawning-sun blazing eyes seeing mirrors rising-star seers towering torchlight, unveiling fresh mountain creating ... We are fresh mountain, rising We are tall mountain, standing We are old mountain, misting drifting sea breeze 'mongst blooming heartsease foot blessing crashing-foam fountain surging sea-spray, finally flying free
+ Who stops us from imaginatively “trying on” an idea?
Is it possible to arrive at a deeper understanding of an idea (such as a first-person poem), not just by thinking about it, but by also imaginatively embodying it? By trying it on as-if it were a "costume"? By playing with it, being it? Is it possible to know if a "costume" will "fit" without trying it on? When we try on a "costume" and it doesn't "fit", why exactly doesn't it "fit"? Who stops us from modifying a "costume" to better "fit" us?
+ Can a memorized poem become a litany against fear? a personal ritual against lies? psychic armor?
Photo: Sergio Taprio (artist)
Artwork: “Free Will”, RAYDEN, Nov 2022 (source)
Artwork: “Mountains”, John Emslie, 1851 (source)
Beautiful