|
The Argotist Online Home Articles Interviews Features Poetry Ebooks Submissions Links |
|
BARIANE
LOUISE ROWLANDS Bariane Louise Rowlands obtained a degree in English Language, Literature and Theatre Studies in the UK and became involved in community arts before living in the USA and New Zealand. In New Zealand she taught creative writing and in 2000 founded ‘The World is Poetry’, a Wellington multi-disciplinary cooperative. Upon returning to the UK, she took up painting where she has had success selling her work privately. Her
poetry is best understood in terms of its exploration of the development of
paganistc values in contemporary ideological constructs such as feminism,
holistic theory and ecological awareness. ANNABELLE
Annabelle
was hiding And
she clawed at her throat Naked,
exposed She
could smell the sweet calling of fruit And
the cold earthy flow of water Annabelle
was hiding And
she clutched at her chest Framed,
constricted She
could hear warm air from the land And
the rustling song of the trees Annabelle
was hiding And
she gouged at her arms Embroidered,
seamed She
could feel the calling of the sea And
the birds beating time on a wing Annabelle
was hiding And
she tore at her hair Entwined,
captured She
could see the sun, a blazing orb And
the gentle pasture’s dancing arms Annabelle
was hiding And
she scratched at her face Alluring,
set She
could touch the gloaming crescent mask And
the deepest dark rocks of the land Annabelle
was running And
she tore her belly Fertile,
alone She
could taste the edge of freedom And
the blood coursing wild through her veins Annabelle
was crying And
she cradled her form Sighing,
laughing She
could feel the tired years of duty And
the hot rush of life from her womb Annabelle
was dying And
she covered her eyes Exhausted,
calm Testing
her feet in a dance of their own And
ripping her roots out from the ground Annabelle was flying …
THE
PELT’S CALL
Under
a raven shroud, breath and mind throb Air
cavities heave, the body perspires Wake
up ......... filacious light is beckoning Elevates
haecceity from its husk Wake
up .......... flesh and bone, eyes stare through the port Crackling
static prisms mesmerise: She
is autonomous, celestial Reaching
heights, piercing the sky with her shriek Searching
the heat of shimmering thermals Buoyant
freedom puffs rippling feathers In
robotic angles, eyes and head twitch Such
skill, weaving she cuts cloud with no trace And
I smell blood, fresh and crimson beneath She,
under the span of speckled copper Circles
her ovoid belly, alighting To
the grainy golden vastness ......... wake up A
shield, wears my face in rainbow plumage. This
woman of troubled journeys is all - The
sun, swift, weightless, to reach inner peaks Back
track in the dark, rest in heavy flesh Pallid
in the night ..... crack ..... she tears forward: Mammal
......... a bear in muscular prowling And
she claws the dust with flexing haunches Her
rumbling voice soars the canopy Of
emerald, echoing in the shade And
bark through to mountainous chiseled crag I
smell water, cold and gushing, tainted With
soil and stone. Her muzzle circles, tastes The
earthy calling in snuffles, licking She,
surrounded, leathery pads immersed In
the rocky crescendo of movement Sees
vast zinc essence. Silvery darting Flexes
her hunger but I am more thrift And
pluck inspiration from sable depths Wake
up ......... I see my name and its pelt calls Always
she carries her name in the dark For
in sleep she is both woman and beast: For
the mortality of blood runs deep The
waters of knowledge, ever flowing In
shields I’ve seen my face. I am awake
ABSENCE I
am watching you walking away Do
you think me alone, standing here? You can not see my eyes … They
are full of space My
feet upon Earth - Obdurate
flesh - Creatures
scurry beneath … Skeletal
cracking And
all transpires within a heart beat How
easy it is Garments
given at birth Fall
melodiously to dust And
I fear no cold of day or night My
soul leaps high The
eternal warmth of dawn Embraces
me And
I will believe it You
do not see they sky … Swiftly
passing continuous flow Infinite
seasons flick over And
I am filled with dancing A
palm cupped world To
pour upon my face A
thick light that floods towards me Washes
absence to mirth Torrential
tears are mine Their
sweet salt tastes of compassion I
need nothing but this The
sloping land … A
reflection only of the rolling I posses I
am happy you left me here A
wisp amongst life hey!
A
FOOL IN A PACK The
fool dances on tip-toe Waving
arms with imbalance A dog in tow ... Its
unquestioning quarters And
dry tongue from licking In
the light of the moon Is
oblivious I
am the fool Precariously
balanced Charming
in laughter Follow
me not For
it takes but a pebble to make me fall And
when mountains are hostile And
a simpleton fragile And
shaling faces reach tumbling heights All
the track long is dancing and laughing For
a fool and their dog on tip-toe
RED
RIVER DAWN Dawn
breezes up beyond the river Its
steeled channel, red now in the sky's wake Sleepily
I reach myself across heaven’s seam Upon
glossy pools, my eyes hold the retreating stars Do
you dare me to slip into the ocean? It
is mine you know, I will sing Pan's law And
down in the depths upon the backs of beasts shell
boats will carry it at my command But
in his stead, loose your hands in Earth Your
eyes open to nature's melodies And
you will see there, beneath bark The
sap that you may drink of I
might roll and dance you, till stone is soft Between,
below, above is the lava of my soul It
flows swiftly catching the dreams of love Their
faces keen in the fiery glow of Heaven Could
you be captive in a Deity’s delight A
spell that stitches the web of seas and suns? I
would taste tears as waves bite the land - Dust
swirling swarms to no end nor no beginning The
secrets of myth will slip into your thoughts So
that you might know the hunger of Celtic dance Timeless
fire sparks in mortal words will strip themselves And you will be of and in the Fair Isle's mossy dreams ... CUMULONIMBUS Look
skyward to a flock that’s simmering Deep
within lies a monstrous obscenity Dark
copious form of liquid blackness Emotive
squall with downcast obliqueness Mirrors
a heart that sleeps silent and low A
passionate force till the wind dies down Clouds
draw back as the sun sucks up moisture All
is arid and still, suspended pep Of
suffocating immobility Why,
as the world revolves do people walk With
laws from sunshine, palsied voices? So
I rush to the bend with open arms Embracing
anger, feeding, stalking Lustful
for life and impassioned by storms PIRIE
STREET Oranges
upon my tongue Burst
into youth Wine
kissed the lips Burning
my cheeks Laughter
was liquid language Paint
and poetry, embers in friendship … We
lay on the floor Just
talking, listening Whilst
skies ate the sun Window
frames tumbling from the walls And
I was falling free across the city roofs Skin
like music, cells that sang It
will take me seven years To
forget The
melody now Is
almost a childhood ‘I
want to thank you’
But can’t ... My
heart was too old My
needs too few My
want of it all too deep
PROMISING
EARTH Watch
my hair, it falls around you Follow
its course along my spine My
skin has no form till you find its shape I
feel myself made, caught in your palms Will
you turn me, mould me as Earth Kneed
pliability till you are consumed? I
would hold you so that you sigh of home In
me, in you, beyond such beauty The
Heavens have lost their stand and Earth Its
stony spin dwindles to nothing Let
it stop, all be still for this time For
you are mine and I am yours Our
flesh feeds life so that it might rest Air
a sigh, fire our heat Earth
is touch, and water ebbs Know
this land with plentiful embrace If
I strip bare the Earth's contours Reveal
to you its fragile pulse Open
to you what I have denied Heavens Will
you know me, hear me, guide me, teach me? Do
not bypass bark nor knoll, nor stream I
am waiting there for you to see Come
be, there's singing, truth and life Beneath
suns, amidst night I feel you feel me
THE
MEXICAN DRINK
I
will never forget the taste of satin
It
binds me in the dark Your
lips Bite
my wrist Blue
blood, a grey ocean I
bleed into the waves White
hooves beat my heart Carry
me, dance below The
mottled light is precious Your
hair is the drifting bed Reeds
free in the current Twist
me at your pleasure I
will keep you safe Stars
slip in and out of view Ships
pass over, their hulk Cuts
pulse … bellied shadows … They
will not touch you You
are mine, do not breath Need
no cloth of sunlight Play
amidst the emerald sway I
will keep your there, save you go The
ocean is an infinite echo I
weep for its song It
is me you feel, a cry Caught
up in the clouds
copyright
© Bariane Louise Rowlands |