Du
as night
A sooted word
shallow
colourless
obsidian bird
Hosts the stars
coats the dead
guides the monsters
to a child’s bed
.
Du,
as spades
a shadowlack
lifeless
lightless
veils the act
Heightens the senses of
want and need
drapes the widow
in mournful weeds
.
Du,
the bones
of underearth
pays the ferryman
as life reverts
Hides the sun
chases day
gifts the sleep
to those who lack
life cannot live
without the black
To deny un-light
Would be like calling
the kettle
Du
.
19 comments:
I love new words, so I looked up "du" and found, tucked in below depleted uranium, data units and a plethora of Dxxxx Universities this little tidbit about a bird found only in New Caladonia, the Sylviornis neocaledoniae but doesn't mention its being the color whose name a pot might call a kettle. Recalling your poem of a plastic bag taken for a bird, I must assume you have written this one about a bird taken for a plastic bag, the color of which we have both linguistically avoided the name of.
No need for avoidance, G&G, I maybe should have explained. Du is the Cornish word for that which shall remain nameless, colourless and spectrum-less.
Amm dhymm ytho!
Good to learn a new word, particularly if it's Cornish, Minx, so thanks for that.
Bet it's brilliant there at present...the sea on the walk from St Ives to Zennor then hot soup in the Tinners arms!
Yeh!
Beautiful, Minx, and haunting.
I like its hypnotic flow, so well triggered by the word "du"...
What an interesting word, also. How do you pronounce it?
spooky, shivery, i don't think i'll re-read it before bedtime tonight ...
and a strange coincidence .... another blogger recently commented to me in an email that you and soubriquet were like the pot and the kettle .....
odd.
xx
red
Excellent, Minx, and thanks for clarifying 'Du'! I was wondering.......!
(speechless)
I very much like the imagery, but not the image.
(that makes sense, doesn't it?)
try again,
I like the way you said it. Though not so taken with the it, it was about.
This is beautiful. Perfect for the season. (BTW: great minds? I took a shot of the moon myself last night. It was beautiful.)
gorgeous poem, minx.
and..again...a new word to learn (with a an abstract and poetic definition, no less!)
Gav dhymm, John, ple'ma an privedhyow? Y ny, my a mowes an da.
Mermaid spotting, Jan?
Pronounced 'doo', Vesper. Also like the word red - rudyh (rudya)and 'pluvenn' which means pen. I know all the rude words as well (proudly).
Very odd, Red, I am nothing like a pot (I don't think).
Du as coal, John G.
Is that normal, CS, will your speech come back? Hope so.
Black is my favourite non-colour, Taff. It is only an absence of light, after all.
Thanks, Roberta, this is the best part of the year for me - Samhain comes and so does a secret....
Thank you, Basest, I like to play with words, not very well, but all the same...
Cornish is more than a hen, eh? Just how many languages do the isles originate?
Du is the Welsh word for black - pronounced a bit like 'dee'
The sidebar photos are fantastic!
I read Du.
It had a magnetic effect of keeping me here. I slowly wandered back down again through the streets of Strangetown, and then saw the red claw hand...
How many originate? Phew, lots,G&G, but most are now dead (Pictish, Cumbric, Manx etc). Modern spoken languages, apart from English and its many dialects include: Welsh, Irish Gaelic, Scottish Gaelic, Cornish and French (Channel Islands). Obviously French did not originate here but Breton (Brittany)is akin to the Celtic languages.
I didn't know that, Owain, thank you. Nice word, and nice of you to pop in, not often I get a Prince in me comments!
Sexy nails, Leslie - partial to them meself!
Lovely Minx, and there I was thinking you were reaching over to France for their "du" which we anglophones take years to say right! :-) The light gray on black - the colour of the text - was hard to see but once I'd managed it - what a treat. The words were velvety!
Oh, are we merely talking of a color?
oh then yes black is nice, good for slimming. And for having things match without having to strain oneself thinking.
I thought we were talking the great darkenss, that some believe lives undeground and burns people for eternity. That is what I am not fond of.
Great word ...
Great words ...
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