I began with feeling a little perturbed, just a little ,when I started reading the preamble of this 'reply poem',, What no Melly or Formby !!!! However I found the poem quite moving. The fact that the man took the child in and raised her, despite others opinions ,was actually rather uplifting as he could have just walked away. Can I dare ask was it just shame he felt through their time together and then after she left?
Anyway ,basically I really enjoyed it. We sadly don't get enough stories/sagas/ ballads of selkies, kelpies witches ,and fairies etc in the world today so many thanks for this
. For some reason interspecies relationships aren't questioned if they are in folklore or mythology,not that I'm an advocate but noone gets their knickers in a twist about Pasiphea and the Bull or Leda and the Swan,or maybe its ok if the swan is the king of the Gods.But then perhaps folklore reflects our inner fears and desires and we can run riot with it ,without fear of censure and with impunity
You raise some interesting points. I think that through their time together he would have felt a terrible mixture of love and shame and duty. And the fact that I regard him as a figure who you can sympathise with is telling. Its an odd poem, both ridiculous, and something a bit above ridiculousness.
There is more where that came from.
As for the kelpies, selkies and general bestailists, Drake had plenty - theres is even a Swan Maiden poem containing the words -
"The white swan maid is lost in the human wife who sings as she goes about her calm house caring."
Ride a white swan like the people of the Beltane indeed.
Hah. I recall one of my earliest R2W visits you read this out. Your work and attitude stand out (sorry) as a major cause in my sticking with the group. I'm glad I did, because you lead me onto stubsmack and even included some of my verse in online publication. Which is very little to do about this post and it's subject matter. As a bloke, need I even state a shared nag not of the mother/wive's doing [but NOT with a seal or any other non-spapiens]?
I am however havering, shilly-shallying and wavering in a purgatorious state about publishing an article I have started and deleted twice. Now in it's third draft, I'm happy with it's content (relevant to this post) however letting it out (sorry again) publicly is what bothers me. It is frank, honest and brutally to the point - regarding suicide, desires and associated human/social wranglings. I care not a jot for whom it might offend - they won't have read it with an open mind. But knowing how the web courses with wazerks who'd have St Francis in court for touching hens before you could say "BJORK".
I'm also painfully painful that it involves public figures whose names get dropped for self aggrandisement. Yet there seems no other way to tell the story with any poignancy (that is not a French spring either). Well done Mike!!
I'm looking forward to whatever you decide to post Alex - I myself aim to go on a further journey of exploration along this particular avenue for next week's post, and then I have promised myself that that particular line of enquiry will end (at least for a while) and I shall return to less awkward subject matter.
So long as you don't write a poem called 'I Dogged A Dolphin' we'll still be on speaking terms. Part of the joy of Mike O'Brien is that you never know what he's going to do next.
I began with feeling a little perturbed, just a little ,when I started reading the preamble of this 'reply poem',, What no Melly or Formby !!!! However I found the poem quite moving. The fact that the man took the child in and raised her, despite others opinions ,was actually rather uplifting as he could have just walked away. Can I dare ask was it just shame he felt through their time together and then after she left?
Anyway ,basically I really enjoyed it. We sadly don't get enough stories/sagas/ ballads of selkies, kelpies witches ,and fairies etc in the world today so many thanks for this
. For some reason interspecies relationships aren't questioned if they are in folklore or mythology,not that I'm an advocate but noone gets their knickers in a twist about Pasiphea and the Bull or Leda and the Swan,or maybe its ok if the swan is the king of the Gods.But then perhaps folklore reflects our inner fears and desires and we can run riot with it ,without fear of censure and with impunity
You raise some interesting points. I think that through their time together he would have felt a terrible mixture of love and shame and duty. And the fact that I regard him as a figure who you can sympathise with is telling. Its an odd poem, both ridiculous, and something a bit above ridiculousness.
There is more where that came from.
As for the kelpies, selkies and general bestailists, Drake had plenty - theres is even a Swan Maiden poem containing the words -
"The white swan maid is lost in the human wife who sings as she goes about her calm house caring."
Ride a white swan like the people of the Beltane indeed.
Animals have their attractions but compatibility is the deciding factor, so I’ve heard.
Hah. I recall one of my earliest R2W visits you read this out. Your work and attitude stand out (sorry) as a major cause in my sticking with the group. I'm glad I did, because you lead me onto stubsmack and even included some of my verse in online publication. Which is very little to do about this post and it's subject matter. As a bloke, need I even state a shared nag not of the mother/wive's doing [but NOT with a seal or any other non-spapiens]?
I am however havering, shilly-shallying and wavering in a purgatorious state about publishing an article I have started and deleted twice. Now in it's third draft, I'm happy with it's content (relevant to this post) however letting it out (sorry again) publicly is what bothers me. It is frank, honest and brutally to the point - regarding suicide, desires and associated human/social wranglings. I care not a jot for whom it might offend - they won't have read it with an open mind. But knowing how the web courses with wazerks who'd have St Francis in court for touching hens before you could say "BJORK".
I'm also painfully painful that it involves public figures whose names get dropped for self aggrandisement. Yet there seems no other way to tell the story with any poignancy (that is not a French spring either). Well done Mike!!
I'm looking forward to whatever you decide to post Alex - I myself aim to go on a further journey of exploration along this particular avenue for next week's post, and then I have promised myself that that particular line of enquiry will end (at least for a while) and I shall return to less awkward subject matter.
So long as you don't write a poem called 'I Dogged A Dolphin' we'll still be on speaking terms. Part of the joy of Mike O'Brien is that you never know what he's going to do next.