The first few lines occurred to me when I was praying to Apollon, and the remainder followed swiftly.
The poem is free-writing because after I finished my prayer beads, I started thinking about the part of the Platonic Theology about Apollon and Helios (and so on); this is where it went. I often rush to write things down in my verse-capture notebook after praying. It motivated me this morning to give extra prayers to Apollon, the Mousai, and Mnemosyne after I had finished most of my routine worship.
Apollon and Helios and their vivid attendants
and Sunna and Sulis and daughters of Sun
Goddesses and Gods in abundant dances
woven braids descending concordious
truth a light-beam vivid against shadow
playful as a swan coming down
to rest upon a swift-moving river
its feathers bright in fresh solar rays
witness, yes, witness — the lines so fine
mind tracing them as if moving a hand
along the steady curve of a lyre’s frame
electric brightness saturating through
and each braided brilliance is a chord
made by light entire, breath entire, song
because each is its own interdependency
the rounds, the chorales change only
as attention flies swift along the edge
like entering a concert hall bathed in music
its stonework its arch-ceiling raining down
how to describe something wondrous
without collapsing to a single composition
🕯
KALLISTI 