In the Gilded Tarot, the Moon
has a soft face, sweet lady
gazing up at the light she reflects.
The crayfish, mysterious symbol,
is not crawling up on land
but jumping half out of the water.
The towering gates
are like massive candles
or Olympic torches.
Central is a gold disc
like an artist’s palette,
and like intersecting cogwheels.
The sun is about to rise.
Low down over the water,
the sky is pinky-purple.
The dog and the wolf
bark in unison to greet
rising sun and risen moon.
This is a variant image
from the one in Rider-Waite.
Could I do magic with this?
I could, except that
no-one’s deceiving me,
they’re all asleep.
And I too need my sleep.
No need to find a secret name
for my hidden enemy —
the one who deprives me of rest
is myself, while the real moon
climbs the sky oblivious.
Note: This is not a reading of the Moon card in the Tarot, but
a personal take on the images in this particular Moon card.
a personal take on the images in this particular Moon card.
Journalling my relationship with the moon: 28
Oh my I could tell exactly what this poem was. And you have given those images to us vividly! This is great!
ReplyDeleteOh I love this! You have done a superlative job of imaging the scene - I can envision it clearly. Where the words took you in concluding stanzas was both a surprise and a delight:
ReplyDeleteno-one’s deceiving me,
they’re all asleep.
...
No need to find a secret name
for my hidden enemy
I journal a lot, but I haven't thought of keeping journals in the specific way of your relationship with the moon one - what a great idea!
You took me on this beautiful, amazing tour of the Tarot, (I presume because I'm not really familiar with it) and then you brought me back to earth, landed me softly at the foot of your bed and let me watch you gaze at the beautiful moon.... What an incredible image that just washed over me! absolutely lovely.....!
ReplyDeleteI adore the way this ends!
ReplyDeleteoh i like the olympic torches image and the artist’s palette like intersecting cogwheels....beautiful rosemary..
ReplyDeleteMay thanks to you all. I'm delighted this one spoke to you so well. It really was written late at night when I was getting tired.
ReplyDeleteturtlememoir, the journal wasn't my idea. It was that of a lady called Maggie Strongheart, who then created a facebook site for people to share their journalling if desired. A friend of mine, poet Helen Patrice, suggested to the mob at Free Verse Weekends on fb that we might do it in poetry, and some of us took her up on it. It's a one (lunar) month exercise, about to end. It has been -er - illuminating!
Very nicely done, love your take here, very interesting to read, great how you weaved your interpretation of the symbolism with your own world and events within. Thanks for the read
ReplyDeleteFred, nicely read too, I think!
ReplyDelete