Hard Ground, Poetry by Character Amel, Okal Rel Universe

 

introduction

Written in connection with a landfall on Barmi II, prior to a storm, Hard Ground may be taken literally as a record of experience, although in Demish tradition it is not uncommon for the sort of sentiments expressed here to simultaneously attempt the officially impossible--but commonly attempted--goal of metaphorically capturing a pilot's struggle with gap while reality skimming. In that case, the "hard ground" is a metaphor for remaining "of the universe" instead of yielding to "why" and losing one's grip.

 

Hard Ground

  
 

It is hard to come down
when the sky is full of moods
that defy naming

To imagine the clouds into shapes
again, where none apply.

Heaven heaves, restless for worship
mighty atmosphere knotting
in its huge dome
grinding light and gray mass
thick with anger in the
knuckles of day-pierced clouds.

So unconscious, and so beautiful,
it stuns all aspiration to describe

And even the will to survive
is laughed from "how" to "why"

It is hard to seek the ground
knowing how little you have filled
the sky.

  

commentary

The reference to "naming" in the first verse, alludes to Gelack "naming words". Fairly universal examples, relating to relationships, include bre'rel'o and mekan'st, but Demish dialect has a much larger vocabulary covering a wider range of emotion and applicable to more than relationships between two people. The use of words as "actors" or "entities" is also Demish idiom, employed here with regard to "why" and "how".

   
Page last updated: 11-Oct-2003
 
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