- Non-Erotic Poetry
- Bone Words
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After the "Fragments of the Women's Writing" by Ursula le Guin
She reported that a group of elderly Hunan women were using a secret, ancient script handed down from the oracle bone carvings of the Shing Dynasty (16th Century BC) and the writing of the Chin Dynasty (3rd Century BC).
The old woman said
these are the forbidden characters
bone words spoken
upside down
These are the bone words
spoken mother to daughter
wrapped in silk
sung by the fire
These are the fingers
of the silk embroideries
hung by the fire
upside down
They are the daughters
speaking in fire words
forbidden to speak
the women in their silks
eyes to the ground
These are the forbidden secrets
written in bone
spoken finger to eye
whispered in fire
M.S.Leavitt
"Jd4george"
- COMMENTS
LeBrozover 17 years agoAnything written of something secret or hidden
Has about it an almost mystical aura.
twelveooneover 19 years agoyou know about this??
I do not object to the use of "bone" here, which a find to a bit of a poet's cliche.
I am sorry I missed this first time around
I humbly bow
dcpoet44over 19 years agoup the principles of philosophy with buddhism in mind, but yet also leaves a mystical presence. that is what i pulled out of the piece. very nice jd
WickedEveover 19 years agothroughout the poem. It holds it together nicely and makes it really sing.
*no thermometer rating
tungtied2uover 19 years agooral history handed down from generation to generation.
A religious feel to it. Wonderful. Thank you jd.
annaswirlsover 19 years agoVery nice. intense image. "Bone words."
I feel they may have been dilluted in their repetition.
You may have intended for the repetition of phrases and words (spoken, silk) for effect, but it was a little distracting for me. But you were probably going for that effect.
But I love this poem. Incredibly original, something to hang onto and come back to after the images die down in your mind. Beautiful
Tathagataover 19 years agoa chant or mantra.
something written on ancient paper
And it has an " oriental" scale and rhythm to it.
Fascinating subject and great minimal word usage.
Thank you
