Awen

the grace & the grief

Beech Avenue (C) paul john dear photography

From:

bone & claw

& dying breath

tree root & feathered wing

obsidian eye of crow

mystic crystal dewdrops

river’s lilting tumble of song

ocean’s cavernous wailing

mountain’s ancient wait

From:

stillness of deep loch, wombing the invisible

silk webbed mysteries, an intelligence so vast

from a look upon those stars, which are no longer here

a sense of diminishment & wonder

how infinitesimally small i am
how gone i will be

my whole lived life
making a speck of dirt

wash my soul in the wake
of this behemoth’s tale

rippling a scribble
to the edge of this pond

flailing grasp
to catch a ghost

everything I have learned
every wisdom accumulated

i will lose

knowing broken heartedly
the ashes of my best day
have already passed

might i have plucked already
the feather of winged flight
to adorn this quilled pen

and make this bloodied scrawl
red ink drops
reflecting the (w)hole

a single hen-pecked grain
all earth’s dissembling lines
converging now

plummeting an echo
aged spiraling love song
a whisper of a place

beyond this veiled threshold
behind the mask of knowing
this resplendent now

this miracle of a moment
all things and no thing
The Cauldron simmers

Awen bubbling a poetic broth anew.

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Notes:

Awen is a Welsh, Cornish and Breton word for “inspiration“ (and typically poetic inspiration). In Ireland you would find commonality with the word Imbas.

In Welsh mythology awen is the inspiration of the poets, or bards; or, in its personification, Awen is the inspirational muse of creative artists in general. The inspired individual (often a poet or a soothsayer) is described as an awenydd. Neo-Druids might define awen as “flowing energy,” or “a force that flows with the essence of life.”

In current usage, awen is sometimes ascribed to musicians and poets.

The cauldron is central to the myth of Ceridwen, more of which you can discover HERE