The ultimate freedom is flight above cover of night. I glide to provide a blanket of darker shade to the itsy-bitsy crawlers trying to hide from the stomp of a crusader's sabaton. I am unclean vermin, the faith-filled bishops rage, while I barely flap elongated fingers like needles amidst skin wings woven by nature allowing…
For the last day of NaPoWriMo, I wanted to return to my initial intention for the month: a poem for/about the goddess Idunn. The included lines of Old Norse are from the poem Hrafnagaldr Óðins (stanza 6) and transcribed from the song Iduna by Faun—which is also the melody of the "song" attested in my poem.…
I saw the neo-pagan band FAUN in concert on my birthday last year. It was a life-changing experience being the the same room with the band, so close to the music I love. I haven't been to many concerts in my life for multiple reasons: cost, location, volume, crowds. But I bought earplugs. I wasn't…
A rough draft today—this may undergo some major editing in the future. Line lengths need trimming and repositioning, and I want to add more detailed descriptions. Today's prompt became the start of a new myth. I've long considered the life-and-death yin-yang nature of Iduna and Hel(a). There are no attestations that these two ever met.…
I decided not to do the prompt today. I just couldn't get into that headspace. I had writer's block most of the day until I found this tidbit in my notes: "Crab apples have long been associated with love and marriage. It was said that if you throw the pips into the fire while saying…
Okay, so the prompt said six lines, and I had every intention to keep it that short, especially with my work overload today...but I kept enhancing each line with parallelism and repetition until they were too long and unwieldy to keep. I had to break it up both for my sanity and yours. See if…
Poem prompt: "Our featured resource for the day is the online gallery of the Rijksmuseum, where you may particularly enjoy their series on 100 masterpieces within the museum’ s collection. And here’s a little anecdote about how browsing an online collection of this kind can lead you to new and startling discoveries. While taking a peek at the…
A short prayer for Idunn today. The example poem utilizes 10-15 syllables per line, though the prompt claims the form the author created to be 12 syllables per line. To be fair, the ending is consistent at 12 syllables. Either way, my poem keeps the lines tight at 10-11 syllables. His poem is technically three…
Poem prompt: "Our featured resource for the day is the online gallery of the Peabody-Essex Museum in Salem, Massachusetts. Although it may be most famous for its witch trials, Salem was a seafaring town whose sailors and shipowners brought back all manner of items from their travels – which became the initial source of the museum’s collection.…
In a complete turnaround from yesterday, I am in love with today's prompt! A ghazal was the ideal form to repeat Idunn's name throughout, like a chant or a prayer. I can't believe I didn't think of it before. The length of 5-15 couplets meant I could easily make it 9, a Norse holy number.…
National Poetry Writing Month
Keeping the world immersed in stanza.
About fantastical places and other stuff
"The silence of the night awakens my soul"
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Saralyn Caine Poetry 