trans

[incantation]

Dream within a dream,
I drowned in two
Different rivers at
The same time holding
A key with two ends
That unlocked two
Different doors. I
Heard a siren singing
To me from a distant
Shore, her song would
Linger and become
A force for
Those in doubt.
A fire between two
Mirrors each reflection
Withholding half a
Prayer. Does the status
Of tears remain and contain
An imprint after the change.
Will the
King my former self
Serve me with a crown.
My first incantation borne
Out of a new identity.
The hermeneutics of
History, echoes
Return, old habits burn slowly.
A crown less king
In wishing well
Waters catches and
Holds my coin, all
Reflections of a new
Identity are joined,
Made into a whole.
Inherent beauty
Of summer
Trees is realised,
An identity cried
Into existence. Falling
Silence of fruit,
Audience underground will
Rise, new aesthetic
Will commute.
I complete an unfinished prayer.

[Terry A]

It is as though transformation, incarnation, reincarnation is under a magnifying glass of an almost cosmic proportion, asking the questions people seldom do, musing over the intricacies of a new form. (There is the transexual element, through subtle in the poem as well.)

'does the status of tears remain........' those lines are almost unbearably sensitive to human suffering. As well as the question as to whether kings in one time are paupers in another. Really, this poem is dense with meaning, imagery, metaphor, yet somehow has an objective reality about it that isn't dream-like, rather possibilities searching.

The last lines about "birth", are nothing short of wonderful. I feel like yelling-welcome to the 21st century of poem writing when I read a poem like this. Nothing of imitation about it.

[incantation]

thaks four extensive reply and comments..Barry

[David W. Parsley]

Definitely a new direction for you, Barry.  Tighter.  New diction and more grounded movement, but as creative as ever.

 - David