Offeringofsky - Lesser Known Stars

Plague Doctor

So here in the shining city on the hill we watched the broad plain with its shifting grasses always thinking the trouble would arrive at the gate announcing itself.

But no, it crept in in ones and twos broken glass lungs etched in X-rays seeping in under the gate.

We could not fathom the wave of misery that broke us open.

The burbling cry of wet breath that choked the air filling every corner.

We wailed for answers.

The plague doctor came surveying the heaps of dead plying us with platitudes and potions crying “Let them inject bleach!”

Pushing out the dead early in the morning I saw him shambling down the hill.

Empty eyes behind his mask and blood on his hands.

-Skye

Tom Mannion

Photographer: Jamie Cuen Source: angiefalanji

HAIKU-River Children

Children splash and swim, heedless of the dangers found in deeper water.

Subject: Actress Mamie Whittaker, September 15, 1910 Photographer: Bassano Additional info: Whole-plate glass negative. Copyright, National Portrait Gallery, London Source: fawnvelveteen

Mamie Whittaker

I looked for you Everywhere

You had a bit part in Houp La! The almost forgotten circus musical extravaganza

You were the lion tamer of all things I cannot reconcile your angelic Countenance with Whips and roaring ravenous beasts.

And here your trail grows cold

Did a lion eat you? Did you marry and lose yourself? Did you grow hungry as your beauty fell away? Did you end up lifting your skirts in some London Alley?

One hundred and fifteen years on you are simply

Gone

Except for your sweet, copyrighted smile.

-Skye

Source: Davetname

Drowning

Do not mind the tide pushing in and pulling out

Or the waves falling and rising

In perfect scales

In lovely cadence

One and two One and two and three One and two

Hold your breath And play This music

Until the sea In its admiration Smothers your Last

Note.

-Skye

Image: Musician Verdan Smailovic, Also known as the cellist of Sarajevo. 1992 during Bosnian war. Source: aconsilio

HAIKU- The Cellist of Sarajevo

We need more Cellists The bombs drop leaving rubble The dead need music

- Skye

Authors Note: I am deeply concerned about my community, country, and the blue ball we are all careening through space on.  These are perilous times in the United States and in the world.  As in all times of trouble art, music, and writing are places of refuge.  Humans are at their best when creating.  We tell our stories, share our loves, heal our wounded hearts and seek to understand ourselves and others.  We can use our creativity to protest injustices and take on the hard dark parts of ourselves and others.

So, in these uncertain times write, paint, and make music. Use your unique voice to beat back the darkness.  We can make this world a better place even when some of us are doing horrible things to each other.

Afterall in this current era marked by destruction, violence and war the answer is simple…

We need more cellists.

Walking

The sky is milk The sea is quicksilver The beach is leaden

No birds No nimble crabs Just human passengers Traveling along the break of day

-Skye

Artist/Work: Alexander Calder, from the “Circus” portfolio, 1964 Source: museums.msstate.edu

Timing

Catch me like there is no net My dear I am counting on you

I am the first of us to Let go

To believe With outstretched Hands

In the moment One reaches For love

Timing is everything A net will not Stop the fall

Hearts still Break.

-Skye

Image information: Adam and Eve, 1533 by Lucus Cranach the Elder Medium: Oil, Wood Source: lucus-cranach-the-elder

Paradise Lost

It was told that the serpent Tricked the woman And the woman bewitched The man Into losing paradise

In truth the animals were Satisfied With their innocence

The snake likely wandered into the tree To sun itself in the high branches

The woman was not satisfied She was curious and clever She knew the snake was suspected Of many things

Her favorite mouse was missing The blue birds cried over lost eggs

She stole the fruit And blamed the snake for her Nascent sin

She involved the man Drawing him tighter to her Pressing knowledge into his hand

And it was she who smiled softly as God Released them from the garden And gave them the whole wide World.

-Skye

Title: Despair (1926) Artist: Kazys Simonis (Lithuanian, 1887-1978 ) Source: dreams-of-mutiny

The Mother

It was the fall of everything The moment the war came into focus and the house caved in

Choking in the dust my baby dead my mother dead

Me digging the rubble With raw bloody fingers To be broken under the house would be better

Me holding my dead little one under the rubble

But In my despair I could only weep over the shattered house Digging with bloodied hands.

-Skye