I am ... I have been

[asakiyume]

I always love poems and incantations that take the form, "I am the [thing] that ..." Just now I encountered something purporting to be from something called the Hymn of Sekhmet that has these lines:

I am the broken wax seal on my lover’s letters.
I am the phoenix, the fiery sun, consuming and resuming myself.

And it reminded me of the song of Amergin:

"I am the wind on the sea;
I am the wave of the sea;
I am the bull of seven battles;
I am the eagle on the rock
I am a flash from the sun;
I am the most beautiful of plants...

Or the Song of Taliesin:

I have been a tree-stump in a shovel.
I have been an axe in the hand.
I have been a spotted snake on a hill.
I have been a wave breaking on a beach.

So, question: What are you and/or what have you been, today or any day?

Comments

[minoanmiss]

I am the rug underfoot
I am the strut under the table
I am the smallest lump of sugar
I am the round peg in the square hole

[asakiyume]

((((my dear smallest lump of sugar)))

[kore]

Song of Amergin is one of my favourites! I learned the totally cod Robert Graves version tho, ahaha /o\

I am the womb: of every holt,
I am the blaze: on every hill,
I am the queen: of every hive,
I am the shield: for every head,
I am the tomb: of every hope.

[asakiyume]

~ beautiful ~

[sovay]

I learned the totally cod Robert Graves version tho, ahaha

I learned it from Susan Cooper and had no idea it was Robert Graves until I was reading a book of his poetry in a long-defunct used book store in college and yoinked it off the shelf so fast, I can't tell you. I still can't think of it without appending I am Eirias!

[asakiyume]

Which book? Is it in Silver on the Tree?

[sovay]

Is it in Silver on the Tree?

It is.

[asakiyume]

I am very pleased I remembered this!

[sartorias]

Oh, I love those too!

Let's see . . . today I have been a slug, a fumbling fumbler, a busy bee, a dog walker . . .

[asakiyume]

You are the slug whose silver trail provides a path ;-)

[asakiyume]

You are the bee whose dance describes the flower ;-)

[cmcmck]

Have one of my poems!


Riddle

I feast on fine food found amongst farms
And all that man makes I must moulder
With my ally, old time, the stone crumbler.
Brittle brown I bring the feat fire founded
And all consumed and brought to earth
No trace is left of share or spade or hinge.
The ruiner of all smith's arts am I in time.

How am I called?


(c) Marianna 2014

[asakiyume]

Are you rust?

[cmcmck]

I am! :o)

[asakiyume]

*thumbs up*

[sovay]

I am the broken harp string singing.

[asakiyume]

💕💕
you really are

(On Twitter I said, "I am scales brushed from the butterfly's wing," but maybe if I'm feeling flooded with glory I could say, "I am a beat of the butterfly's wing.")

[sovay]

(On Twitter I said, "I am scales brushed from the butterfly's wing," but maybe if I'm feeling flooded with glory I could say, "I am a beat of the butterfly's wing.")

I think you are definitely a beat of the butterfly's wing.

[pameladean]

I've been the brown prairie grasses dancing with the wind
I've been the moon behind clouds: a blur, a flash, a sudden round whole gleam
I've been the young Mississippi, bringing forth new brilliant dragonflies
I've been one firework in a finale -- the fountain of green fire behind the tree there.

Well, that was unexpected. What good questions you ask. It's a rare talent.

P.

[asakiyume]

And you make such beautiful replies <3

I've been the young Mississippi--this made my heart soar, the thought of a child river--a child river so full of potency. So beautiful, dancing with green fireflies.

[mrissa]

I know you, young Mississippi

[asakiyume]

^_^

[queenoftheskies]

These are all lovely.

[asakiyume]

You should try one--who have you been, at moments?

[westerling]

Today, I am the indrawn breath
Today, I am the fire in the hearth against the chill of early spring
Today, I am the uncertain touch
Today, I am a soul reaching once again for the unattainable.

[asakiyume]

I am the fire in the hearth against the chill of early spring **love**

[westerling]

As an aside, I once wrote and directed a winter solstice show based in the story of Taliesin. :)

[asakiyume]

I am sure I told you that after your troupe's solstice visit (solstice-adjacent? It was near the solstice if not on), I had a kernel of popping corn miraculously sprout. Powerful

[westerling]

Solstice-adjacent, and that was indeed a magical night. I'm looking forward to getting back to disrupting the status quo with music and dance...soon!

[asakiyume]

*prayer hands*

[wayfaringwordhack]

I am the voice that won't be silenced,
I am the reed that will not break,
I am the dreamer who won't wake,
I am the razor that bleeds.

...

I have been the child at the bottom of the well in a tall tower: who placed the stones?
I have been the cycle breaker: what new cycle am I helping to create?
I have been the prayerful supplicant: are all answers the ones I thought I needed?
I have been the pressed flower: Don't fear; I go on blooming, a living kaleidoscope.

[asakiyume]

I have been the child at the bottom of the well in a tall tower: who placed the stones? ---ooh

I have been the pressed flower: Don't fear; I go on blooming, a living kaleidoscope. ---love that: it's beautiful and complicated... like a kaleidoscope.