severed from its body. Enigmatic eyes,
a mouth that gives nothing away, cloven ears.
I lean forward to read the card beneath:
Romano-British, second century, and yet:
this head was moved from place to place,
never attached to a body, protected,
some say worshipped.
I want to reach through the glass,
to feel that old, rough stone.
How do we touch the sacred?
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| Celtic Head (Berndwuersching) |
Tomorrow's prompt: Silence or noise.
You can visit OctPoWriMo at http://www.octpowrimo.com/ to read what others have written. Thank you, Morgan Dragonwillow.
You captured the mystery of those Celtic heads. They were probably intended to be touched, reverently, not kept in a glass case.
ReplyDeleteFrom what I learned, the heads were considered at the very center of spirituality . . . people kept stone heads like these in their homes, perhaps much like some home altars. Thank you for reading and commenting.
DeleteBeth, the way you have woven your words around that image is really challenging.Brilliant.
ReplyDeleteThank you for visiting, Sunita. I'm glad you liked this poem.
DeleteI love the perspective of touch that you showed in your poem! Excellent!
ReplyDeleteThank you for visiting, Carol, and for appreciating my take on 'touch'.
DeleteSomeday I'm going to get in trouble because I won't be able to resist touching something in a museum.
ReplyDeleteThank you, Alexandra. Your comment reminded me of a very thrilling moment when I did actually touch one of those stone monoliths at Stonehenge (and at similar sites in Scotland). Today, visitors are not allowed to walk within those revered stone circles.
DeleteYour description is compelling. Makes me wonder what would happen if you did touch that stone head!
ReplyDeleteHello, Jade. I think Jane Doughherty (above) said it best. I believe, most likely, people did touch these religious artifacts reverently.
DeleteI always want to touch the things behind the glass.
ReplyDeleteA very few museums around the world allow their curators to take artifacts out of those glass cases and keep them in their offices -- for study, no doubt.
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