My body
a temple without worshippers
a reliquary with no relics
an idol without fans
My brain
a pantheon
home to many gods
always room for one more
My bodymind
temple with many gods
a home for reliquaries
always room for one more relic
My ego
a relic
a worshipper
an idol
a god
Me
a body
a brain
an ego
a human
The Singer of Amun Nany’s Funerary Papyrus, ca. 1050 B.C.
Egyptian; Thebes, Deir el-Bahri, Third Intermediate Period
Papyrus, paint; l. 521.5 cm (206 5/16 in); h. 35 cm (13 3/4 in)
The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, Rogers Fund, 1930 (30.3.31)
http://www.metmuseum.org/Collections/search-the-collections/548344
The last day of #NaPoWriMo! The month went by really fast this year. Our prompt for today at napowrimo.net was “to write a poem in the form of a series of directions describing how a person should get to a particular place. It could be a real place, like your local park, or an imaginary or unreal place, like “the bottom of your heart,” or “where missing socks go.””
The Egyptian book of the dead describes how to get to the eternal afterlife. Your heart will be weighed against Maat, embodiment of cosmic order and ethical behavior. Your heart has to be judged “an accurate witness” for the weighing to be valid. Mine is a crude summary – the scroll is over 17 feet or 5 meters long!
The poem was written before I found the art, and before I read the prompt today. I guess you can say it’s about finding yourself. If it gives any direction at all, it’s towards self-examination.
This has been a fabulous National Poetry Writing Month! I enjoyed the community, the prompts, the reading, the writing, the searching for art, all of it. I can’t even imagine how much reading Maureen must have done to come up with her daily choice of featured participants!
I hope to catch up with reading and listening to more of your poems in May. I’m behind with reading a number of you who I try to not miss out on. It’s fair to say that my voluntarily added challenge of picking a work of art from The Met everyday cost a lot of time too.
Veit Langenbucher (1587–1631)
Musical Clock with Spinet and Organ, ca. 1625
Ebony, various wood and metals, wire, parchment and leather; Overall: 78.1 x 32 x 50 cm (30 3/4 x 12 5/8 x 19 11/16 in.)
The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, Purchase, Clara Mertens Bequest, in memory of André Mertens, 2002 (2002.323 a-f)
http://www.metmuseum.org/Collections/search-the-collections/503530Veit Langenbucher (1587–1631)
Musical Clock with Spinet and Organ, ca. 1625
Ebony, various wood and metals, wire, parchment and leather; Overall: 78.1 x 32 x 50 cm (30 3/4 x 12 5/8 x 19 11/16 in.)
The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, Purchase, Clara Mertens Bequest, in memory of André Mertens, 2002 (2002.323 a-f)
http://www.metmuseum.org/Collections/search-the-collections/503530
Our prompt at napowrimo.net today: “And now, for our prompt (optional, as always). This one is called “in the window.” Imagine a window looking into a place or onto a particular scene. It could be your childhood neighbor’s workshop, or a window looking into an alien spaceship. Maybe a window looking into a witch’s gingerbread cottage, or Lord Nelson’s cabin aboard the H.M.S. Victory. What do you see? What’s going on?”
I think the art from The Met is on prompt. Not sure about my poem, but this is what I have for today.
Should I stay – closer
Should I go – closer
To me?
To you?
Should I come – nearer
Should I leave – nearer
To you?
To me?
I will draw – a line
I will paint – a portrait
Me
and you
Landscaped
Title: Approaching Thunder Storm Artist: Martin Johnson Heade (1819–1904) Date: 1859, Culture: American Medium: Oil on canvas, Dimensions: 28 x 44in. (71.1 x 111.8cm) Framed: 42 1/2 × 58 3/8 × 5 in. (108 × 148.3 × 12.7 cm) Credit Line: Gift of Erving Wolf Foundation and Mr. and Mrs. Erving Wolf, in memory of Diane R. Wolf, 1975 Accession Number: 1975.160
“Our prompt today (optional, as always), is to write a poem that poses a series of questions.” Thus wrote napowrimo.net. Art found on The Met.
Ahumans are impractical unethical cost-prohibitive inefficient
to fit to completely control to randomly assign
Several Ahumans consistently give wrong results
For Ahumans to be valid the experimenter must account confounding factors
Ahumans are limited because they lack statistical properties
Ahumans suffer from the possibility of contamination
Ahumans may produce illusory correlations
Ahumans consistently give wrong results
Ahumans are prone to selection bias
Ahumans lack external validity
conduct medical trials
provide a substandard treatment
inferences from subjective models are unreliable
outcomes are observed
results are not meaningful
conduct randomized experiments
produce ethical concerns
analyze the data in light of them
present a positive result
Conclusion
By definition non-Ahumans are quantified, more objective and therefore, more convincing
Title: Eye idol, Period: Middle Uruk Date: ca. 3700–3500 B.C., Geography: Syria, Tell Brak Medium: Gypsum alabaster, Dimensions: 2 1/2 x 1 5/8 x 1/4 in. (6.5 x 4.2 x 0.6 cm) Classification: Stone-Sculpture Credit Line: Gift of The Institute of Archaeology, The University of London, 1951 Accession Number: 51.59.11Title: Proto-Cuneiform tablet with seal impressions: administrative account of barley distribution with cylinder seal impression of a male figure, hunting dogs, and boars Period: Jemdet Nasr, Date: ca. 3100–2900 B.C. Geography: Mesopotamia, probably from Uruk (modern Warka) Culture: Sumerian, Medium: Clay Dimensions: 2 1/8 × 2 3/8 × 1 5/8 in. (5.4 × 6 × 4.1 cm) Classification: Clay-Tablets-Inscribed-Seal Impressions Credit Line: Purchase, Raymond and Beverly Sackler Gift, 1988 Accession Number: 1988.433.1
The prompt today at napowrimo.net was to “write a poem inspired by an entry from the Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows.” I was fascinated by this entry:
n. the awareness of the smallness of your perspective, by which you couldn’t possibly draw any meaningful conclusions at all, about the world or the past or the complexities of culture, because although your life is an epic and unrepeatable anecdote, it still only has a sample size of one, and may end up being the control for a much wilder experiment happening in the next room.
I didn’t have the time to write a poem though, I was too busy translating this tablet sent to me by a secret messenger carrying the eye idol. #NaPoWriMo day 27 gets my translation of what seems to be a scientific report as my entry today.
Tonight I'm gonna have myself
a real good time
I feel alive
and the world
I'll turn it inside out
floating around in gentle bliss
slow yourself down
and join me in my good time
I'm having a ball
slow yourself down
if you want to have good time,
just give me a call
I slowed myself down
'now I'm having a good time
I slowed myself down
yes I'm havin' a good time
I don't want to stop at all
Do slow down
slow down
slow
down
hush
hush
hush
Do slow down
slow down
I like it
have a good time
good time
do slow down
slow down
alright
don't stop me now
I'm having such a good time
I'm having a ball
don't stop me now
if you wanna have a good time
just give me a call
don't stop me now
'cause I'm having a good time
do slow me down
yes I'm havin' a good time
I don't want to stop at all
西漢 彩繪陶舞俑
Title: Female Dancer Period: Western Han dynasty (206 B.C.–A.D. 9) Date: 2nd century B.C., Culture: China Medium: Earthenware with slip and pigment Dimensions: H. 21 in. (53.3 cm); W. 9 3/4 in. (24.8 cm); D. 7 in. (17.8 cm) Classification: Tomb Pottery Credit Line: Charlotte C. and John C. Weber Collection, Gift of Charlotte C. and John C. Weber, 1992 Accession Number: 1992.165.19
“Today, I’d like to challenge you to write a parody” was our prompt at napowrimo.net. I wanted to use this beautiful piece of art I found on The Met, so I took that as a starting point. But how to find a poem or song to use as the base for my parody? I realised how beautifully this sculpture expresses concentration, subtleness, balance. So I looked for a song on speed that I could work with.
I thank Queen for their beautiful song Don’t stop me now, which is a wonderful expression of excitement. My best life would have both queen and this dancer.
Can I be born in a poem? Can I die in a poem?
Can I fornicate and throw up?
Can I kill something and get away with it?
Can I be a god in a poem? Can I cannabalise a poem?
Can I strike a pose and be smitten?
Can I maim someone and get away with it?
Can I reproduce in a poem? Can I arrest said poem?
Can I call you Al and kick ass?
Can I bake your cake and get away with it?
Can I be born in your poem?
Can I stay in your poem?
Can I dance and breathe and laugh out loud?
I like your style and I want to get away with it.
Title: Animal pendant, Date: A.D. 1–1000 Geography: Central American Isthmus Culture: Central American Isthmus Medium: Gold, Dimensions: H. 1 in. (2.5 cm) Classification: Metal-Ornaments Credit Line: Gift and Bequest of Alice K. Bache, 1974, 1977 Accession Number: 1974.271.16
I didn’t really use the prompt on repetitive lines that napowrimo.net provided on day something, but today it creeped in. Which makes me off prompt for today, when we are suggested to write “a poem suited to, or written for, a particular occasion.”
I’ve spent almost an hour today looking for this picture on The Met. I have wanted to use it since the beginning of this month, but could never find or write a poem that went with it. I’ve combined it with today’s poem to celebrate the occasion that I DID find it, after I’d given up already.
Habitat: Politicians are found almost everwhere, even where they are not native species.
Description: Many are horned, while others are polled.
Reproduction: In 2001, a politician was cloned successfully and lived over seven months. Though somewhat controversial, this could prove to be an effective tool in the future. If the cloning of politicians can proceed successfully, it has the potential to reduce strain on the number of living specimens.
Collective behaviour: Politicians have a strict dominance hierarchy. They fight one another to obtain dominance and win an opportunity to talk. Before election season they try to determine access to voters.
Title: Reclining mouflon, Period: Mature Harappan Date: ca. 2600–1900 B.C., Geography: Indus Valley Culture: Indus, Medium: Marble Dimensions: L. 28 cm, Classification: Stone-Sculpture Credit Line: Purchase, Anonymous Gift and Rogers Fund, 1978 Accession Number: 1978.58
Today’s prompt was to find a text about an animal and replace the word of the animal with a very different word or phrase. What a great opportunity to work with this animal sculpture from the Harappan-period at the site of Mohenjo Daro in the lower reaches of the Indus River. (Yes, I copied that information from The Met and don’t know what I’m talking about.)
The accompanying audio fragment on the page is very interesting, I recommend it. Apparently, we don’t know how these people were ruled because temples and palaces were not found. Their writing system was unique and their language has never been deciphered.
I’ve made my book Sampled, Sealed, Delivered free for two days again, for all of you who missed it earlier this month.
It’s a present, but if you happen to like writing reviews: it has none yet on Amazon, and it could do with some!
Listen well to this point:
If you do not understand, others do.
To argue with a poet is like making requests in the presence of kings
– if you take purgatives they will work excellently.
Do not weaken yourself with toil
use wiles against your enemies
Argue with poets
– there is a ban on bleeding.
Today’s prompt at napowrimo.net was “to write a poem that responds, in some way, to another. This could be as simple as using a line or image from another poem as a jumping-off point, or it could be a more formal poetic response to the argument or ideas raised in another poem. You might use a favorite (or least favorite poem) as the source for your response.
I searched on The Met and found folios from a compilation of poems assembled by the Persian intellectual and poet Muhammad ibn Badr al-Din Jajarmi, titled Mu’nis al-ahrar fi daqa’iq al-ash‘ar (Free Man’s Companion to the Subtleties of Poems).
I couldn’t find much about the poems when I searched the net, but luckily The Met gave extra info in their catalogue description. I’ve added the translation of the poems beneath the pictures.
Title: Folio from a Mu'nis al-ahrar fi daqa'iq al-ash'ar (The Free Man's Companion to the Subtleties of Poems) of Jajarmi
Author: Muhammad ibn Badr al-Din Jajarmi (Iranian, active 1340s)
Date: dated A.H. 741 / A.D. 1340–41
Geography: Made in Iran, Isfahan
Medium: Ink, opaque watercolor, and gold on paper
Accession Number: 19.68.1 and 57.51.25
The text in Persian reads:
“O lofty in origin, if you wish to know clearly In which of the signs of zodiac the Moon is, Know first that every month the Sun enters a new sign. For instance, if the Sun should be in the month of Aries, And if the Moon is ten days old, add ten more to that. When the doubling has been done, then add five more. Listen well to this point: allow one sign for each five. Begin from the sign in which the illustrious Sun is: The Moon is in Virgo, if the calculation is done right. Look well at this example I have given; In whichever sign the Sun is, make this calculation, And if you do not understand, others do. I make it brief.”
“If the Moon should be in Aries, put on new clothes, exert yourself in being bled, hunting, enjoyment, and war. Refrain from marriage and taking medicine. Drink the cup of joy with military men.”
“With the Moon in Taurus, know that companionship is good. It is good for you to start seeing women. Construction goes well, and the making of compacts, Making marriages, and entertainments for guests.”
“With the Moon in Gemini, partnerships, making marriages and journeys Are good, if you do them, O you mine of jewels. Have clothing cut, make your requests from men of the pen. Do not take medicine and be sure to shun bleeding.”
“With the Moon in Cancer, it is proper to have clothes cut, And if you take purgatives they will work excellently. Buy jewels, travel on water, for that is good. Send messengers wherever you need to.”
“The Moon is in Leo. Work with fire is good. Make your requests in the presence of kings. Lay foundations, be bled, and make compacts And avoid sewing and wearing new clothes.”
“With the Moon in Virgo, writing and teaching are good, Seeing scribes and astrological calculations. Bleeding and travel and building are good.
“Make marriages, wear new clothes,” the wise man said.
“With the Moon in Libra, making marriages is good, and journeys, The seeing of women and noble servants. Donning new clothes and merriment are good, And it is better to shun the making of pacts.”
“With the Moon in Scorpio, taking medicine is good, To make war and use wiles against one’s enemies. Stay at home. Do not travel. Do not put on new clothes. It is good to plant new trees.”
“When the Moon comes to the sign of Sagittarius Make your requests from judges and men of learning. Buy slaves, make marriages, and visit the bath. Do not take medicine or weaken yourself with toil.”
“When the Moon has come to Capricorn, hold entertainments. Dig qanats and canals, if you are able. Buy slaves and animals, if you have the money. Toil to acquire learning; do not behave ignorantly.”
“With the Moon in Aquarius, if you have money, Buy furnishings and goods and Indian slaves. To see agents and sheikhs is good. There is a ban on bleeding, hunting, marriage making and travel.”
(Translated by A. H. Morton in Swietochowski and Carboni, “Illustrated Poetry and Epic Images”. New York, 1994)
Our prompt today at NaPoWriMo.net: “I’d like to challenge you to write a poem that invokes a specific object as a symbol of a particular time, era, or place.” In my chaotic brain this little poem has at least three layers of meaning, maybe more.
To me reading it wrings, it grates, it’s clumsy writing – but I’ll let it be.
Title: Manuscript Leaf with the Crucifixion, from a Missal Date: ca. 1270–80 Geography: Made in Paris, France Culture: French Medium: Tempera and gold on parchment Dimensions: Overall (folio): 8 3/4 x 5 7/8in. (22.2 x 14.9cm) Mat: 19 1/4 x 14 3/16 in. (48.9 x 36.1 cm) Classification: Manuscripts and Illuminations Credit Line: Purchase, Bequest of Thomas W. Lamont, by exchange, 1981 Accession Number: 1981.322
