[Fall is here. The leaves have begun turning. The ground is dry. The fallen lilac leaves crisp and brown, gathered atop the hostas below. Few plants are thriving right now in my backyard. The showy goldenrod, of course — still radiant, tall. The real star however, is the Aster. The Blue Wood Aster. Of all the flowers it is perhaps the one I most look forward to seeing every year. Die Blaue Blume of the Dawnland. When I see it, I am instantly transported to the edge of the woods where it most loves to grow, the boundary between this world and that one, the one which hides fae and sprite and stands of pale ghostpipe. The blue wood aster conveys fall in every way, every sense. Luminous, humble, dimming. Grand to its very end~ ] Received 9/15/24 | 2:58am
Listen to the Recitation:
THE PERCEIVER
Perception
Deception
Conception
Reception
Three lone figures ascend one lone peak
At the summit is an oracle, solitary, alone
"For what reason have you journeyed here"
The statement is a question
Every statement is a question
"We humbly seek your counsel"
"We wish to listen carefully"
"We desire knowledge in the way"
The oracle laughs, light shattering
Fractures fall and crumble the earth
To dust, buried in a breeze, reassembled
To shake down its foundations
And crack open the shell
"For your efforts, I shall reward you. Sit"
Three chairs appeared, a small round table
Between them. The oracle stood
"When the red fox watches from afar
And the blackbird sings
The mollusk shall rise and take arm
In arm will be seven jewels, for seven seasons
The dawn shall not rise to meet you
Nor shall it rise for any of your peoples
The tribes of the earth shall splinter
And the forests shall burn
The earth will shake six times
The shelves will dislodge, the altars break
And stone doors creak open, to reveal
A room of dusty tomes, forgotten, saved
Untouched; untouchable
A turtle of 13 kinds of stone will raise
Its storied spectacled head to meet you
And the dust shall disperse to all corners
Revealing pristine covers, spines, gold letters
And the books shall open and spill their contents
A sea of words, truth in tides, washing
Every aching body clean
Not by fire or suffering, but by pleasure
For the right thing upended
To hear a clattering, a clamoring of tempest
Tempers, the smith's forge glowing in the near
And hammer falls, hammer strikes
The blue silver ore, spraying iridescent sparks
Which light the waters of word aflame
A cool illuminating blaze, as starlight lingers
And smoke tendrils, turning on itself
What is in comes out, and what is out comes in
The stars bow down and the moon goes dark
The sun sings and shudders, releasing tears
Mana for those brought low, for every seed
Sown, dashed and downed, threshed
And ripped apart, spread open
To lay in wait for the armageddon to end,
For the fires to cool and calm, the storms
To quiet and break, the heart
To grow easy and soft, again
The latch swings up and the hinges groan
As two children crack open the lid
Of an old, oh so very old, box
Filled with treasure, broken dolls
Crumpled receipts, stray buttons, paperclips,
Little tumbled stones, sand, dried strands
Of hair, what may have been locks, loved
In place, and beneath it all, a clay tablet
Blank and still soft, and beside it a pen
With two ends, sized for little hands
Too hot to hold in any others'
And the two shall share this pen, and shall write
A new song, a new story, a new image
Simple and salvific and foolish and great
And this stone shall be the new foundation
Rock, the cornerstone of the new temple
Grown in the new forum, the next garden
To nourish and found all communities anew
And forever; and forever shall be for all."
The sky repieced itself together, a flurry of colors
The world awash
Each of the three stood then and bowed
And thanked the oracle, who smiled
And clapped, and turned away from them
And spoke no more.
The three turned as one and stepped outside the circle
To find themselves alone, in a daze, at the top
Of a blue silver mountain, air still, sun shining
The valley spread out below them
And, together, they began their return journey
Down, which would be long and lonely
For a time, before it would become loud and bustling
And the three would patiently oversee the fulfilment
Of the continued devastation, to make way
All to make way.

