Parthenon, Parthenon… Parthenon
Parthenon, Parthenon… Parthenon
she said
based on its roots
one can guess where the tree trunk will fork
a mirror or
a map after flame and all things stretching toward oxygen
he asked
smiling
you remind me of Sarah Vaughn
she says
mostly the fluttering and the way
words don’t come out right
he said
if river is defined by its shoulders
and mountain by its saddles
then the sea
nodding
then the sea
Recently, at a bar, I overheard a conversation that I simply couldn’t follow. It seemed as if both participants were speaking directly past each other, not responding to what was said before. That said, the conversation still had forward motion and by the end there seemed to be some level of understanding.
When I got home, I sat down to write, put on a live Sarah Vaughn record and eventually got to the last track where she struggles through saying the word Parthenon. While listening to that record, a series of fragments emerged that, when woven together, kinda emulated the spirit of the conversation at the bar. The speakers also had similar voices, which I tried to capture here. Hard to tell who is saying what! Add this to my list of “things heard at Seattle bars” poems.
The word river comes from the Latin word ripa, which means "bank.”
Additionally, I’m reading Lord of the Rings for the first time since high school and I think this conversation is lightly inspired by the circular speaking of the ents (the tree beings). Nearly everything they say sounds akin to (paraphrasing) “saying it in our language would take a long time to say because we only begin to say things if they are worth taking a long time to say them.” What a notion.
Bonus ent quote: In response to the hobbits, Treebeard says “hill is a hasty word for a thing that has stood here since this part of the world was shaped.” Gah!
Knowing what’s on the holiday horizon, this is probably my last post for ‘24. Grateful for all of you and looking forward to more poems (and hopefully songs!) in ‘25.
With Gratitude,
Really dig the analysis of language and nature here, both fragmented in thought, which somehow feels so fitting. Interesting how, try as we might, we can only ever relate nature to ourselves, which can be viewed in a positive or negative light.
Love the images of fire, mirror, trra, sea, saddle, etc. here!