As the moon slides past midnight,
The star studded sky
Sprinkles its diamond dust
On slumbering boroughs,
Unbeknownst to sylvan dells, thickets
And murmuring streams.
***
Then in dreams
Regal Fate
Casts her stellar spell,
Stepping down
To kiss li’l ones,
A Wiccan wand, she waves
The broken-hearted, to bewitch,
And mend teary smiles.
***
After this momentary respite,
An hour or two after midnight,
Whispers the sleepy sun
Into the ears of the fleet-footed night.
“Morn is again come;
Douse, I must
your star-splintered,
Shimmering veil.
And dip it in the rosy haloed dawn.”
***
Betwixt this witching hour
We espy
The night hurriedly steers
The silken reins of
Fate’s burnished Chariot away.
And so,
The night tip-toes away.
The silvery slice of moon
Eventually understands
That its stillness must be broken
By the first cock’s crow.
***
Thence, every night
Fate is wont
To descend
In night’s solitude
Down the haloed beam
To patch and darn
What’s broken
And fix this millennia
or that, chanting,
“What’s broken is meant to be
Fixed, in the wee hours of daylight,
The darkest hour that thwarts destiny
Is magically lit by celestial light.”
***
A fragile moment this is
To return every night,
Fate, in her stellar magnificence, then
Mounts her winged chariot
Returning to the swirling cloud burst
And spectral nebulae.
**************
Mumtaz N K
01-10-2020
Poet’s note:
Fate in European literature is depicted as a whore; I chose to rewrite a myth, subvert a stereotype. She descends in the darkest hours to bestow mercy, her regal bearing and warm motherly acts contradict her previous images of being whimsical and frivolous harlot. She mends torn fates, guides the down trodden or miserable by working mysteriously with constellations and orbs, yet as dawn approaches she vanishes into swirling star dust.
*********
Picture Courtesy: http://www.thehalovault.org/2017/02/observing-diamond-dust-halos-at-bila.html
wow ! a tough poem to decipher. Could not understand but I am intrigued . would love to understand it better Mumtaz..
Please look at my post below, hope the poem reads better.
Thank you. Let me see how to make it easier..
The sun whispering to the night💚 what a stellar description. The sequence goes on!
ah lovely, but pardon my ignorance, couldn’t understand that needle, veil part. What it actually represents 🤔
Hi Sonali, Hope what I’ve written will suffice.
Powerful imagery.. It reads liks a picture!!!
Thank you Jaya.
Hi Preeti and Sonali,
Fate is generally depicted as a whore in European literature. I chose to rewrite her role, subverting the stereotypical role she plays as a whimsical and frivolous woman. Instead in the darkest hours, she gently descends to bestow mercy, her regal bearing and acts of maternal love help mend torn fates. She appears every night to guide the downtrodden or miserable, because misery is universal.
Like all that is nocturnal, she works with constellations beneficially: she vanishes like swirling star dust before dawn.
Wow … thanks for the insight on your lovely poem Mumtaz. It is truly deep 💚
Oh wow
This is so beautiful and profound. The poet’s note made it complete for me. This is a beautiful piece.
Oh wow!!! Such powerful imagery 👏👏👏
Keep enthralling us!💚💚💚
Thank you Pooja!💚💚💚