Descortly Poetic Ode to the Spiritual Genius of Hermann Hesse
Inspired by and answering Diana C.’s prompt to deeply self-reflect: How can you wash away the idea that there is a certain standard that you have to exhibit to be enough?
Cleanse oneself of stains of conformity Follow the born-into-Brahmin path I speak not of “the” Buddha, but of the Laureate Hermann Hesse Demian taught Sinclair the true meaning and power of the mark of Cain Weighted down by his father’s expectations, Siddhartha Ganges dove to drown But he could not cheat death He rose and he found his dharma Ferry others from riverbank to riverbank Travel east my friends, while west looks like you will arrive, Columbus’ cartesian presents an illusion
My Essay Explaining the Thoughts Behind This Poem
Form — Descort
I have embarked in the last few weeks to challenge myself not only with Diana C.’s deeply probing jump-in-at-any-time challenge of 50-in-50 writing prompts
but also by responding thereto with uncommon poetic forms as challenged by both MDSHall (dodoitsu and Amercian cinquain) and Somsubhra Banerjee (too many to list)
I had drafted a dodoitsu, which was pretty good, but not good enough to express the rich creamy Channspiration of my love for my muse Libby I felt inspiring me along with all of the rest of my channeled forces:
So I published it in ILLUMINATION,
where anyone who appreciates my talent as an editor is free to take advantage of my position by asking me to add you as a writer and/or if you are already on staff, leaving a PN with your submissions that you want me to process your story so you are not subjected to crappy editing, “cough cough” Q clearing, or notes from certain of my colleagues, some nice and some not, for things my co-editors could easily fix (note I only edit a poem upon request) — I am a fucking awesome editor of essays, just ask jules, Esther George, Alexander Philip Bird, Keri Mangis or Libby Shively McAvoy — that is confidence, not arrogance. [3/22/23 edit — I detached with love from Illumination some time ago — I do like to pick up mentees and work on their writing and personal growth]
Here’s a poem I wrote about that difference:
For the first time in this leg of my writing journey, I felt the full wisdom of each and everyone my spirit guides (I have 4, or 4+ or 5, or 6, depending on what level you confer upon God):
Shortly after awakening, I started to seek the counsel of my spirit guides, facilitated by the aforementioned channeler, Ane. Shortly before that, I was pondering what animal was likely to be my “Spirit Animal.” After reading a bit about how one can discern their Spirit Animal, I believed mine would be the Elephant. At the first meeting with my spirit guides (I have four — 1) a mother type to love and nurture me who Ane has descibed as a 1950’s TV show housewife
2) a nurse with a Sanskrit name, 3) a Native American who is my fiercest protector and 4) one whom Ane describes as reminding her of an accountant, whose role is to offer me practical advice), which all happen at a tree-lined watering hole. Our discussions were observed from a distance by an Elephant.
I remember feeling a special connection to this observer. In the next and every subsequent channeling, the Elephant was at the forefront — answering my questions, posing thought-provoking questions to me — if the others chimed in it was clear to me they were awaiting his signal. I intuitively knew early on how honored I was but waited a week or so before clueing Anne in, waiting for the right segue, which presented itself when she remarked that she was in awe of my Elephant. First though I asked Anne to ask Elephant it’s name — the soft-spoken answer confirmed what I sensed.
After the Elephant’s first appearance as an observer, I intuited a connection to Hindu deities. Vishnu, part of the Hindu Trinity of Creator (Brahma), Protector (Vishnu) and Destroyer (Shiva), is synonymous with Ganesh, who is symbolized by an Elephant’s head. My elephant said its name is Rama. Rama, is one of Vishnu’s human incarnations. Elephant is my Highest Power. My Elephant-Spirit-Guide is God.
, and my soul partner Sitara, who joined my spiritual team after completion of her life review, and my highest power Rama, all split streaming this piece into my split screens, so I opted for the more free-flowing verse of the descort:
The descort differentiates itself from other forms by differentiating its lines from other lines within the poem. That is, the main rule of descort poems is that each line needs to be different from every other line in the poem.
A descort poem has different line lengths, meters, avoids rhyming with other lines, no refrains, and that goes for stanzas as well. In other words, no two lines in a descort should look like each other, and the same could be said for each descort.
NOTE: This is different than free verse, because even free verse may occasionally have similar line lengths and meters. However, descort is very intentional in its variability.
Lines — 1 and 4
“We who bore the mark might well be considered by the rest of the world as strange, even as insane and dangerous. We had awoken, or were awakening, and we were striving for an ever perfect state of wakefulness, whereas the ambition and quest for happiness of the others consisted of linking their opinions, ideals, and duties, their life and happiness, ever more closely with those of the herd. They, too, strove; they, too showed signs of strength and greatness. But as we saw it, whereas we marked men represented Nature’s determination to create something new, individual, and forward-looking, the others lived in the determination to stay the same. For them mankind — which they loved as much as we did — was a fully formed entity that had to be preserved and protected. For us mankind was a distant future toward which we were all journeying, whose aspect no one knew, whose laws weren’t written down anywhere.” — Hermann Hesse, in Demian
Lines 2 and 3
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siddhartha_(novel)
Line 5
It was his childhood that had begun the arrogance, since his father and the Brahmins had praised Siddhartha so much that he even judged them and doubted their wisdom. The old arrogant, clever Self is invisibly drowned beneath the river’s water, and it is the enlightened Siddhartha who survives. — Source
Line 6
Regardless of whether one feels that suicide is selfish or justified relief, once one realizes that the date of death is predetermined, suicide becomes pointless.
Line 7
Line 8
In a display of humility, Vasudeva explains to Siddhartha that his wisdom comes not from books or sophisticated philosophical knowledge, but from listening to the river and nothing else. Vasudeva refrains from engaging in a student-teacher relationship with Siddhartha. He understands that his role serves only as a guide for those ready to receive the wisdom of the river and not as an instructor. — Source
Line 9
For further reading:
I honestly think this is the best fucking poem I have ever written. I hope you get something out of it, whether you agree or not is irrelevant — I remind you of the prompt — “How can you wash away the idea that there is a certain standard that you have to exhibit to be enough?”
Haiku now answer Only person who needs hear The birds sing is me
Thank you to these fine poets and writers for inspiring me along the way with apologies to anyone I forgot to mention: Claire Kelly Stuart Englander Holly Kellums Agnes Laurens Melanie J. Joseph Lieungh Esther George Jean Carfantan Carolyn F. Chryst, Ph.D. Rita Duponty Josh Balerite Tree Langdon Anthi Psomiadou James G Brennan Dr. Fatima Imam Dr. Preeti Singh Dr. Amy Pierovich William J Spirdione Keri Mangis Libby Shively McAvoy Joe Luca Desiree Driesenaar Diana C. Maria Rattray Carol Price The Maverick Files Kim Petersen Ikram Al Mouaswas Karen Madej ILLUMINATION ILLUMINATION-Curated John Cunningham Reverie Patrick Paul I. Trudie Palmer Amy Marley Anjali Samaraweera John Partinnin-Lowe Frank Ontario Rebecca Romanelli Noelle Kira Dawn Amy Sea Zen Chan Adam Borowski
In Rama I create, with soul-energy surging through my body, inspiring me and breathing wind into my sails,
