Akikawa Nikki

Lonely, I wait here
Where none but God can find me
He isn't looking
Like a garage-sale puzzle
Not all the pieces are there

2nd poem

Oh, I cannot breathe
The filthy air clouding my lungs
In these godless times
A hurricane of chaos
Envelops the innocent

Link: poem 1 godless month to where none but God can find me. Poem 2 godless month to these godless times.

I will probably use the 2nd poem in the final sequence, as the 1st one is too modern in feel. But I liked it enough to post it.

Fallen tree branches
Scattered all over the lawn
Like thrown-away toys
And like a mother, sighing,
I bend down to start cleaning

Time is merciless
Adding to my sorrow and
Stealing my beauty
But my heart must persevere
For hope still walks among us

Link: Without mercy to merciless

The scent of wood-smoke
Carried on the autumn wind
And I am brought back
To those happy childhood days
My family around me

Notes: Link: From "premonition" to "I am brought back", imagined future to remembered past.

Something about the smell of wood-smoke reminds me of autumn during my childhood--never mind that I grew up in Texas! We had a fireplace and my father liked to use it just as the weather started to cool.

I look up, seeing
The slightest hint of color
Autumn's harbinger
The leaves whisper "Make ready!"
And a chill runs up my spine

Link: Sinners' upraised faces to I look up. Since the last poem was purely spiritual, I needed to bring the poems back into the seasonal theme. It's important that the poems keep their seasonal/natural world grounding, even if the theme wanders away from time to time.

Kestrel’s Lullabye

Words by Tace of Foxele/ Ki no Kotori
Music: Blessed Be That Maid Marie (tune: Staines Morris in William Ballet’s Lute Book @1590)
http://www.santasearch.com/resources/sheetmusic/blessedbemaidmarie.html

The original performed by Telynor, the song begins at the 1:40 marker.



Dedicated to Lora Ann Ros (Donna Brooks), who passed from us April 21st, 2016

Little kestrel, nestled near,
Come to rest in Calontir.
Outside dangers may abound.
We will keep you safe and sound.

Little kestrel, have no fear,
Nothing ill can harm you here.

Where the wild northwinds howl
Lies the land where gryphons prowl.
Paths to our home can’t be seen
In amongst the maze of green.

Little kestrel, have no fear,
Nothing ill can harm you here.

Eastward, dragons can be found
Rife with strength of great renown,
Past their lair they cannot creep,
The river runs too wide and deep.

Little kestrel, have no fear,
Nothing ill can harm you here.

There are gracious, grassy dells
In the land where horses dwell,
Past those fields they rarely stray.
(There’re no bridges anyway!)

Little kestrel, have no fear,
Nothing ill can harm you here.

In the warm southeastern land
Lives the wild and wooly ram.
He may climb the mountains tall,
But you can fly above them all.

Little kestrel, have no fear,
Nothing ill can harm you here.

On the bleak southwestern plain,
Lions wander, hunt and maim.
But they never venture far
From the light of the lonesome star.

Little kestrel, have no fear,
Nothing ill can harm you here.

The mighty stag may often roam
From his westward forest home.
His legs are strong, but even he
Cannot swim the amber sea.

Little kestrel, have no fear,
Nothing ill can harm you here.

Little kestrel, tuck your wing
While huscarl and fyrdmen sing.
Dream sweet dreams of flying free,
And we shall watch over thee.

Little kestrel, have no fear,
Nothing ill can harm you here.


Notes:

1. I heard this tune on Telynor’s excellent Christmas Album Off the Beaten Path, which can be found here.

2. Since the song was about a kestrel, I wanted to include other animal imagery. The animals here are the heraldic mascots of the kingdoms and principalities surrounding Calontir.

Northshield = Gryphon
Middle Kingdom = Dragon
Meridies = Horse (that one was hard to find!)
Glenn Abheann = Ram
Ansteorra = Lion
Outlands = Stag

3. I tried to follow the logic of an older falcon and how they would see the land, hence the “maze of green” cornfields of Iowa and the “amber sea” wheatfields of Kansas and Nebraska. From the sky, that’s what they would look like.

4. I originally wrote this for Page the Kestrel, one of Lora Ann's birds, but changed the dedication and wrote the last line when Lora Ann died.

5. Thanks to Lora Ann for making me perform this in public when I first wrote this song. I was very scared, but she was right, I needed to sing this to an audience. :-)

Autumn rains falling
Early this year, my tear drops
Will not be noticed
Crickets cry, a broken song
Dripping from my bleeding lips

Notes:

Link: rains must fall, shoulders curl -> autumn rains falling, tear drops, dripping

Autumn rains is a common poetic term for sorrow

Darkness surrounding
My senses as I reel
Closing around me
Morpheus, why hasten you
Here, so far from your kingdom?

Make haste, make haste, there
Is no more time for dreaming
Time creeps upon you
Yoshitsune descending
On heedless Dannoura

Notes:

Links: Midnight vigil to Darkness surrounding, why hasten you to make haste

First poem actually describes a fainting spell, can also mean depression. Morpheus is the Lord of Dreams.

Second poem notes there is not time for dreaming. I am trying to finish a project and am (as usual) running late. Yoshitsune descending upon Dannoura refers to the Battle of Dan no Ura, the final battle of the Genpei War (between the Minamoto and Taira clans, April 25th, 1185). Although mostly a sea battle, the land forces of the Taira were on a beach at Dan no Ura (which literally means "beach platform), when Minamoto no Yoshitsune came down upon them with his forces, riding down a very steep cliffside in a sneak attack.

Your radiant smile
Still has the power to stir
My love-wary heart
So weary of Love's cruel games
I extend a cautious hand

Link: radiant stars to radiant smile
Attempt at kakekatoba (pivot word) with the wary/weary pun. Not sure I like it, I ended up repeating "love" as well. I suppose I might have used "Cupid's games" instead? Oh, well, tanka: one and done. Move on.

Time interrupted
The earth danced beneath my feet
Yet my heart stood still
Be content, the times lament
The world turned upside down

Notes:

This morning, an earthquake of 5.6 on the Richter scale hit Pawnee, OK. It was felt throughout seven states, and quite strongly here, shaking our house for about a minute. It was my first earthquake and I wasn't sure what to think about it (neither was my cat, Ryoko, who was sitting nearby!).

Link to the previous verse: one moment, much like another--my heart stood still

"Be content, the times lament" and "the world turned upside down" are from the 17th century song The World Turned Upside Down, which refers to the banning of certain Christmas traditions during the English Civil War.

And yes, this is the song Lin Manuel-Miranda refers to in the song "Yorktown" from Hamilton the Musical, and I'll be truthful, I would not have known about the other without his reference.

The phrase "the World Turned Upside Down" actually dates back to the Book of Acts 17:6, King James Version.

I especially liked the "Be content, the times lament" which speak as clearly now as when the words were written in 1646. It was a common for Japanese poems to refer to entire phrases from ancient tanka, knowing that the meaning would be understood. The practice was called makurakatoba. It was understood that cultured people would catch the earlier reference. Sometimes these makurakatoba could be quite opaque.