Day 10 - "is carmen of mei"

Wow... it's been quite a year, ladies and gents.

I say that since my last post on this blog was about a year ago, give or take twenty or so days.

There have been many reasons for my absence - number one, of course, has been planning for my wedding and raising enough money to pay for it by working my ass off constantly at three different jobs. Another has been the Fairmont Homebrewers Club that I started way back in October that has taken a lot of my time as well. And besides that, there have also been family problems, helping my friends start their farm, this and that, on and on ad infinitum. Needless to say, I have been busy, and I do regret that I've neglected this blog for so long. There are two big reasons for that as well, however: one, I didn't have reliable internet out here in the country until about Christmas, and two, I wasn't sure if anyone was really reading this blog anyway.

But it was made clear to me, by some of my close colleagues, that there is still definite interest in this blog, so I've taken it up again and will try - despite all of the craziness that is STILL consuming my life (especially so close to the wedding taking place NEXT MONTH! yikes!) to post as often as I can.

And to be sure, I haven't been dilly-dallying, as they say around here, with my poetry. I have continued reading, and, more importantly, I have continued writing. In fact I've recently finished the introductory poem to my book that I'd been working on for quite some time - trying to find the perfect words (as all poets do, but one means or another) - waiting for them to fall into my lap on some sunny day where I had nothing better to do than abandon all pursuits, sit on my porch, and sweat over a scalding laptop keyboard.

And here are the fruits of those labors, dear friends. I hope you all enjoy the introduction to my upcoming book of poetry: "The Whispers and Whims of a Ha'Penny Bard" It's kind of a nod to poetry in general - at least, poetry that I greatly admire - as well as a mission statement and brief narrative of my journey as an aspiring, and somewhat 'half-assed' poet making his way into the big bad Western tradition of the written word. The Latin title, "is carmen of mei," roughly translates as 'this song of mine.' (Big points to anyone who can name all the references!)

So, cheers to new beginnings, I suppose - how ever many times they must occur before we finish. :)


"is carmen of mei"


I have not claimed my Innisfree
The Abyssinian maid plays not for me
My Grecian Urn has not been thrown
The daffodils have not yet grown

All through the Waste Lands I have tread
Like Don Juan, romping from bed to bed
Yet still, there in the dim, dead throngs around
Prometheus, friend of man, lies bound

But proud laurels are not what I’d wish to have worn
Great things slouching towards Bethlehem to be born
I would far rather be a creature; naked, bestial, apart
And to know why it tastes bitter, because it is my heart

I’ve known that this passion’s been burning so bright
Deep in my soul, in the forests of the night
A dark place wherein I’ve since tasted of desire
For I’ve found I hold with those who favor fire

In poetry, in life, throughout hours and days
Poured out through a pen and then kilned with a glaze
That is something half theirs and half totally ours
Just the same as a door’s not a door when ajar

And I’ve longed to produce this, my own avant-garde -
All these whispers and whims of a ha’penny bard
That span time like Crane’s Bridge, from the sweat of my brow
Though the harvest is past - I am done with apple-picking now

Yet I’ll still grasp for beauty til’ the day that I’m gone
Searching forever, a lost and muttering Endymion
To capture Selene as she seeps through the cracks
In this black and white world, wanting color it lacks

But for the opus you hold - most modest chef-d’oeuvre -
I have strove for the epic, with a bit of blah, blah
And pray that these songs I’ve composed through my youth
Will remind us of Art, so we won’t die of Truth

So go forth, poetic progeny
Run along through this world
Like bright rays of light
Heliotic daybreak unfurled

And do what you may, dear friends, may it please or offend
For at this beginning, I must come to an end
Though no end is forever - still, like dust, we shall rise
While Dickinson calls out, “There is yet another sky.”


- Joshua Clarke