OTI:three poems and notes:11/6/16

Open To Interpretation

Street Light

"Thou hast saved me a thousand marks in links and torches, walking with thee in the night betwixt tavern and tavern." 
Henry IV part 1 Act III Scene 3 William Shakespeare


No shame in that
I'd say
Dead in the street gutter
After a night in the tavern.
We've all made that walk
Our own shadows before us
On the pavement from
Our stars over head.
Were there street lights back then?
Let me check...
Oh, just so,
One, then, could hire a walking lantern.
Did the link-boy turn when he heard you fall?

Rich Or Poor

Depression is like hunger,
Everyone gets hungry.
Rich or poor,
We want to be happy.

Ride

Onyx's 'palace'
Was a square stone fortress tower
Situated on the shore of a marsh
That was sometimes a lake,
But in winter when snow covered
Was an expanse of white
With reeds sticking through
And hummocks covered like snowballs.
Onyx's Nest was atop the Tower
And there beside
He slept in hibernation with his Dragon family.
In the lantern lit Tower Hall,
It's tall windows' glow falling on the night white snow,
Medea sat on a three legged stool,
Perfectly still,
Posing.
The painter from Sycion was melting his wax.
"The Black Dragons brought you here, Pausias?" Medea said.
"Yes, one day when I was minding my own business, 
Plucked from a country lane like a roadside flower."
Pausias said.
"They have discerning tastes."
Medea gestured to the murals covering the Great Hall's walls. 
"And not I alone," Pausias said,
"Others from my school are here as well,
Along with our works the Dragons pilfered."
"Have you my likeness?" Medea asked.
Pausias examined the wooden panel before him,
His encaustic painting of Medea in progress.
"I approach."  said Pausias.
"I too." said Medea, her hands on her belly
Rounding with Aegeus' son.
"Enough of this.  Make do with what you have. 
I must be off."
"As you wish, Queen Medea." Pausias said.
There isn't much to a Dragon Tower.
A Great Hall, a Kitchen, sleeping quarters,
And in Winter, each of the Towers of the Northern Reach
Were isolated, snowbound.
And Medea had yet to acquaint with their human populace
Beyond the few attendants at Onyx's Tower.
She ascended the stairs to the Tower's roof.
Thereabout, Onyx and his family,
So many black hummocks
White snow covered,
Dreaming Dragon Dreams.
"Wake up, Onyx." Medea said.
From the Dream, Onyx heard Medea
Far away on the horizon of sleep,
And half awake his consciousness flew to her.
"Wake up Onyx!  I need a ride!"

DolphinWords

Notes:  I've never been able to read Edmund Spenser, or for that matter the epic poets he emulated, at least the allegorical ones, like Dante.  And for that matter, allegorical epic poets after him I can't read either, like Milton, or even Blake's 'books'.  Stories heavily laden with allegory, my eyes glaze over.  How's Hollywood have it, 'if you want to send a message, use western union'.  Hmmph.  Nevertheless, the epic poets can really write, so always worth a looksee...anyway. studying out Spenser's biography, I happened on this...

quote

We must keep in mind that to a late medieval/early Renaissance audience, such borrowing from other authors without citation was not by any means considered plagiarism. In fact, it was taken to be the sign of a well-educated poet who could command different sources and integrate different styles. The medieval style was one of incorporation, not originality, and this carries on from Dante to Spenser to Milton.

http://www.sparknotes.com/poetry/fqueen/section2.rhtml

hmmph...one rumor has it that Spenser died in a tavern in London, where he had returned after having his Tower overrun by Irish rebels...he may have been destitute, or maybe depressed, or maybe nothing...my maternal grandfather died on a street in Chicago just so, and Spenser's demise tickled that nerve...depression is a peculiar thing...it is just as real as hunger with the self same directed need for fulfillment...food of its sort, whatever that might be...but that being a nebulous notion, no one has any certainty on how to deal with depression...I'm steeling myself for the election Tuesday!...reference Spenser's Castle in Ireland, now a ruin, Kilcolman Castle...apparently, before cannonballs, Castles were Tower like, perfect pedestals for Black Dragon Nests, I'd say!...reference 'link-boy'...'link-boys' might have their modern counterpart...oh, and reference the ancient Greek encaustic painters, all lost...

:)

DavidDavid