Poetry
A Quipu of Knotted Threads …
‘ … this quipu speaks. of nature’s enforced discord. sounds of birds. of owls. and clucks from wild hens. and guitar chords strummed in accord, all before these massacres began — ‘
https://www.tate.org.uk/whats-on/tate-modern/cecilia-vicu%C3%B1a
a cascade of un-dyed fibres dive in waterfalls of un-spun yarn. unravelling from high slung branches driftwood hung with strings of thick set rope. mudlark’d remnants beached by London’s tidal waters bleached bark smooth like salted-slate.
a call to arms amidst torn nets and tulles and stripped down petticoats. of calico rags and hoops of wire. cracked dream catcher catching choirs of native voices harmonious in their freedom
this quipu of knotted threads. of gauze. of cords fragmented debris. a waft of muslin draped between frayed tales. and finger’s touching tips
a child plays. a woman dances. a father twirls his daughter upside down. as we are hung on words of lone voices. the tonal cries of mournful sounds. from harps. from pipes. from whales calling. of guns and drums and barking dogs on heat. Tate’s Turbine Hall caught on canine howls and wild cat-calls the hangman’s twisted noose of braided hemp. where hills and waters fall in sink-holes. where gold is pounds. and corporations cheat
these lands their rivers forests stolen lives lost whilst wasting precious blood cotton tied like battle trophies puffs of fabricated scalps on uncurled twine
this quipu speaks. of enforced discord. sounds of birds. of owls. and clucks from wild hens and guitar chords strummed in accord all before these massacres began — the deaths of men by pen and paper. moral poison drunk from silver cups
their Amazon their Sepik River Cameroon and Congo states. they are their deepest forest keepers and yet. there are no ‘keepers’ when the trucks barge in to bulldoze trees and flatten dwellings. or when the sun chars bark to parch like bone
trees killed by our climate-crisis dripped in trunks of unbleached gauze hung and strung from spider catchers unforgettable in ghostly form amongst this forest soundscape.
but what of the real trees —
going going gone
but not for good
Sally A Mortemore ©2023 — All rights reserved
Thank you for reading 🙏
And thank you to the wonderful editors of The Howling Owl, forever supportive, and forever hard working Zay Pareltheon Viraji Ogodapola Marilyn J Wolf
What is a Quipu?
Quipu (also spelled khipu) are recording devices fashioned from strings historically used by a number of cultures in the region of Andean South America.
A quipu usually consisted of cotton or camelid fiber strings. The Inca people used them for collecting data and keeping records, monitoring tax obligations, collecting census records, calendrical information, and for military organization. The cords stored numeric and other values encoded as knots, often in a base ten positional system. A quipu could have only a few or thousands of cords. The configuration of the quipus has been “compared to string mops. Archaeological evidence has also shown the use of finely carved wood as a supplemental, and perhaps sturdier, base to which the colour-coded cords would be attached. A relatively small number have survived. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quipu
Maybe you might enjoy this other one by Sally also published by The Howling Owl:
