the neverpath

It's been awhile since poetry has found me, so I found it instead, and used a magnetic poetry kit to help me find words for my thoughts as of late.

his blue song asked the wind to

rustle that beautiful flowering tree

and ancient boughs murmured:

"behold, insect soul!

from here on out

you must wander the neverpath,

for deep unending cycles

of long dark night"

Author's Note

sacred mutterings

Reviews

[Nick Warwick]

"insect soul" and "wander the neverpath" jump out of this poem and propel the reader into a world beyond the human -- where, I have long suspected, lies the potential for a life which is more than just marking time before its end. Echoes of Carlos Castaneda's Don Juan and becoming other than human under the influence of peyote; of Kafka's Metamorphosis; of just how much can be learned from simply observing animals. Anything whispered by ancient boughs I'd stop and pay close attention to. Th poem sounds like some kind of sentence has been imposed, but underneath that I sense liberation.

[Snowfrost Moth]

Leave it to a fellow poet to help me see another side to things! While I did pick the words, there was a sense of stream-of-consciousness, free association, automatic writing...about the whole thing. When I posted it, I liked what I had put together, but even I only had a faint idea of what I meant to say. While I do not believe in the concept of reincarnation, there is to me some sort of beauty in the idea of death not being sleep but instead a chance to be an animal of some kind. If I understand the concept correctly, the greater the negative karma, the smaller the creature, and thus 'insect soul'. Of course, I'm not implying that I have done such awful things as to deserve that, but rather, I like the idea of being humbled in such a way. I have not yet read Kafka's Metamorphosis, but it has been on my to-read list for a while. I do know a little bit about the story and Gregor Samsa, but just the basic idea. Perhaps a poor substitute, or mayhap not, but I did play a game called Metamorphosis that was based on it, with you going on a journey through a world of bugs, but it also referenced The Trial (which I need to read as well), as you can see a friend of yours being arrested and not being told the charge.

I...really appreciate that last sentence there. I definitely had meant a sentence being imposed, but...I guess in my sorrow I didn't see the possibility of liberation. Thank you, Nick.

[carl]

very moving piece, quite literally moving, to where? undetermined, looking forward to following. Something almost Tolkienist about this. captivating. thanks for the post -carl

[Snowfrost Moth]

Wow, Tolkienesque? Thank you, carl! That's quite the compliment, I would never have thought that myself. I'm glad to hear it has that fantasy quality to it.

[light and ashes]

I'm not sure how you put this together.
I'm unfamaliar with the method that you have mentioned, but I will say this for it....in this case, it worked.
I absolutely love this piece.

[Snowfrost Moth]

While you can get the physical kits (I had one once), I like playing around with the digital versions that are on offer here: https://magneticpoetry.com/pages/play-online

This is what I used, specifically the 'Nature Poet' kit. While I try not to rely too heavily on these kits, they are a good way to get the creative juices flowing and break out of writer's block, in my experience.

And I thank you very much. I'm glad this worked, and I'm very glad that you love it.

[light and ashes]

You are welcome.

[willweb]

Feels like a start to something bigger, like a journey has just begun. Hoping that magnetic poetry kit allows more to come together because this was cool.

[Snowfrost Moth]

Thank you, will! I'm glad you enjoyed it. And yes, while most of the words were fished out of the kit, I still worked my own touches on it, made it flow smoother, and inserted words it was missing. Whenever I'm struggling to write poetry (I always have the desire, but not always the words or the muse), the magnetic poetry kits, while limited in scope, are often helpful to get me back in the game.