physician of the soul

[eclipse]

A river spoke to me in a dream, I had to tell it

the red moon's reflection was not a wound. Soldiers

do not want hear about the mechanics of laparotomy,

Quenu knew battle had changed, death hissed at his

paradigm, we had mobile units, early evacuations, transport

for the wounded-the winds of propaganda could not slow down

echoes of standardization.   

 

The wind went blind one night, I was woken by it hands

examining my stomach for a wound, my needle's eye is

blind and the end is bent, Quenu refused the wings that

heaven sent, he dug and his spade met and touched that

of the angel digging the war out of false consciousness.

I am a surgeon not a visionary but I can see the lost vision

of my patients turning into ambulances.

 

I have become an agent, a physician of the soul-I have

to remain pure as the many wives of war tempt me with

despair and ravage me with rage, one wife whispers "emotive

psychosis", another "obnubliation".  A strange inversion grips me 

when I listen to patients, like mountains are climbing me and

seas are drowning in me. The winter has psychosis, it's winds

are linear, soldiers tell me of there synesthesia-they hear snow

flakes scream and  blood sing.

[JoelJosol]

The title told me that I might encounter medical terms in the body of the poem. The initial line set the tone - this maybe more than just a metaphor. I am in a dream where anything can happen. The series of words that followed - red moon, wound, soldiers, surgery - transported me to a battle zone and probably an improvided medical/surgical site.

There appears to be a transition, coming out of the dream, into another reality in the second stanza.  Whether this is another dream is not clear to me at this point. Quenu, now more defined as an angel without wings. Not clear though if it were the vision that was turning into ambulances or the patients at this point. The "I" finally identified himself as a surgeon.

But there is a transition - from surgeon to 'physician of the soul'. Does that imply becoming a psychiatrist? Is the soul referring to the mind? The keywords that followed appear to confirm this - despair, rage, psychosis, and synesthesia. How that transitioned happened and if we are now still in the dream or not is not clear to me.

If this poem, eclipse, tried to deliver hallucination as an experience, then it does not have to explain things. Just experience it. 

But it does create a collage of images of war and closes with it - snow flakes scream and blood sing.

[tonyv]

On 12/23/2017 at 9:49 AM, JoelJosol said:

But there is a transition - from surgeon to 'physician of the soul'. Does that imply becoming a psychiatrist?

Interesting observation. There has to be a lot of depression going around in wartime settings. Though I've only read some translations, one of my favorite poets is Georg Trakl. He was medic during WWI.

Tony

GEORG TRAKL (PMO topic)