Creative Traditional:

[Sartor]

SELENOLATRY LOST

Rise and dip thou spectral ship
plowing yon clouded sky
Blow winter breeze through freezing trees
moaning thy lullaby.

Through the night reflected light
is all thee ever gives
Throughout the day we hide away
like two sad fugitives.

We would dine on bread and wine
beneath thy eerie glow
We gave love to thee above
and suffered here below.

My love was lost she paid the cost
of selenolatry faith
She died thus of moon madness
for thee, thou specter wraith.

Wax and wane in twisted pain
thou dead, thou lifeless sphere
Move along, be gone, be gone
I shed no useless tear.

No more I shun the golden sun
my soul is in rebirth
No more astray in your decay
dead child of mother earth.

Sartor

[Amzy]

Wow! A great read, Sartor. You have a way with story telling in verse. I like how your story ends by eschewing selenolatry and not going as far as turning to heliolatry.

[Sartor]

Amzy...........to give up worship of the moon and then making an idol of the sun would be..........redundant, to say the least. Thanks for your comments, I appreciate them.

[Altree94]

This was fantastic! The internal rhymes and the assonance throughout made this a most enjoyable read, even though you did refer to Grandmother moon as a dead child of mother earth! (Sorry Sartor, that's just my Native upbring coming out) Thank-you for posting!

[lanaia74]

Superb! Bravo! Applauds!

[Sartor]

Altree........Thank you for your comments. Of course the term "dead child" refers to the fact that the moon is lifeless and believed by some to have once been a part of the earth, thrown off as it was being formed. In times past many people worshiped the moon as a goddess. Your reference to Grandmother Moon must come from tribal legends or stories, although I am not familiar with the phrase.


Lanaia......I appreciate the applause. Smiles to you.

[Bear]

this is a great seasonal nature write as all dies in the cold of the freezing winds and the moon a lifeless sphere. fantastic penning
handshakes
tom

[Sartor]

Hi Tom........Many have worshiped the moon in bygone years and perhaps some still do to this day. Thanks for your comments.

[MsJacquiiC]

OK SARTOR - there is something really special going on within your words - I new the "root" ...olatry has meaning worship - Wasn't quite sure what SELENolatry was - so I googled of course...

At anyrate - Moon worship? Lost...? Interesting topic right of the bat. Then to go into such beautiful structure of your poem - each word placed precisely correct - makes for a wonderful wonderful poem - Shouldn't ever expect any less of you Wordsmith!

The Following Text Is Quoted:

We would dine on bread and wine
beneath thy eerie glow
We gave love to thee above
and suffered here below.

This stanza really speaks to me and my "condition" - I can truly relate to having given and given and given... Have not much left to give; Some would be so brazen as to say NOTHING left to give LOL - But then I believe in the principle of karma...

The Following Text Is Quoted:

My love was lost she paid the cost
of selenolatry faith
She died thus of moon madness
for thee, thou specter wraith.

This is highly interesting, as I've come to know that you don't just sling the word "love" very liberally and/or loosely - So I paid particular attention to the above stanza... I suppose the Wraith must be an utterly abhorable thing. Moon madness indeed LOL - This is a fabulous poem SARTOR - there's bits of philosophy, spirituality, romanticism within your poem AND it reads beautifully.

I do wonder of course - What is your inspiration? What inspired you to pen this poem?

thanx for the sharing
Love write!

Jacquii.

[Sartor]

Hey Jac.........Oddly enough this poem was still on the notification list so I did receive the information that you had posted a reply in this thread. Thank you for the comments.

Many civilizations have worshiped the moon as a goddess. Some see her as a consort to the sun. Regardless of "why" they did so, I believe that many of the ancient peoples, who did not understand a thing, had a tendency to invent the reason for it's being, usually placing it within their religion. Even to this day, Wiccans worship the earth as a goddess.

A Wraith is, of course, a shade, spook or spectre, the same as a ghost, although it can also mean a mental image that haunts the mind.

Where did the inspiration come from to write this bit of poetry? In all truth I have no idea. When my muse delivers a phrase or thought that stirs my imagination, I will write about it and as the words flow onto the paper, the basic structure of the poem develops. Strangely, I often write poetry out of sequence. The verses come in a confusing order. Perhaps the final verse will be actually written as the second verse and the opening verse may be written down as the fifth verse, leaving me to sort them out into an orderly presentation.

Thanks again for your note.

Sartor