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the astrolabe of regret
Folder:
bridging poems
The Astrolabe of Regret
I set the brass to north,
the needle quivers —
a tremor I pretend is wind.
Each degree a year
I failed to turn back.
At dusk,
the fixed star
is only a smudge of ash.
(Margin note: “Merchants once navigated by these same stars; some never returned.”)
.
You already know that I love
You already know that I love astronomical poems . . . so this one is a tremendous blessing. After reading it, I was so smitten by admiration that I needed to lean back in my chair and just let the poem wash over me. My enjoyment of your poems proves, I believe, that there is a circularity to life: reading your poem transports me into that starlit realm I first entered during my adolescence. Your poems do not take me "back" to that time; they take me forward to it, because the path is not linear but orbital.
Starward-Led [in Chrismation, Januarius]
The forward-motion is
The forward-motion is catching. That is superbly moving.
here is poetry that doesn't always conform
galateus, arkayye, arqios,arquious, crypticbard, excalibard, wordweaver
Thank you. I had to wait
Thank you. I had to wait until old age to learn the difference between a straight (no pun intended) line and an orbit. My parents were obsessed with guaging my development as "forward" and "backwards," and very often embarrased me in front of visiting relatives by declaring that I had been "moving backward" again. However, at this age, I am more free of their pernicious attitudes than I have ever been, and the forward orbital rather than their "straight" lines is an implied aspect of my screen name that I had not realized earlier. Your poems have helped to that, and thus have been tremendous blessings to me in this final segment of the course.
Starward-Led [in Chrismation, Januarius]
From my experience, moving
From my experience, moving forward took a helical sort of trajectory which is quite interesting in itself. Spiralling forward?
here is poetry that doesn't always conform
galateus, arkayye, arqios,arquious, crypticbard, excalibard, wordweaver
Yes, and that is a positive
Yes, and that is a positive spiral, and your poems are blessings upon that spiral.
Starward-Led [in Chrismation, Januarius]