Cacophony Of The Soul: Select Writings Of Zarn Ishtare

[Anna Mae]

Zarn joined the marines? I didn't know that. (And as for Blackwater and the like, everyone needs to watch the documentary Iraq for Sale. And while I'm recommending documentaries, watch Why We Fight as well. Okay, I'll stop now.)

[Dante]

Zarn joined the marines? I didn't know that. (And as for Blackwater and the like, everyone needs to watch the documentary Iraq for Sale. And while I'm recommending documentaries, watch Why We Fight as well. Okay, I'll stop now.)

Well they're going to be over there, I'm going to be paying for them with my tax dollars and they seem to get the better equipment and get to mess things up without having any real consequence (they don't seem to have to follow the geneva convention or anything else) so the way I see it, who would want to play by the rules and get paid didly squat when our gov is giving out the big bucks to someone without the US flag on their shoulder? That's been my arguement lately for kids trying to enter the marines and other armed services, I can't change their minds and keep 'em safe but I can at least suggest that they get paid well while they're at it. (If I'm giving wrong advice please correct me from doing any more harm)

While they may be considered the so-called "bad guys" in this war, you have to admit that the bad guys seem a little better off both financially and militarily (at least that's how it seems to me). I don't want anyone joining and going over there, but I can't change their minds. Far as I can see I'd rather they all just go AWOL and come home (I wouldn't blame them) we miss them and we feel they were mistreated when they would give there lives for us, they are just given empty promises that are never kept time and time again.

Its not a political thing, I just don't see anyone in government trying to keep the promises made to these guys. My neighbors son was given one days notice that he was to be shipped off to Iraq the other day, he hardly had the time to notify his wife before they dragged him off again, and he's got the highest rank that one can achieve as a non-officer and been in there for years. I just don't want Zarn getting hurt, physically or mentally for the sake of something that will make no difference in my life, or the life of my family members... but if he gets hurt, he's my friend and that is personal. His quality of life as my friend means far more to me then the whole stupid country of Iraq, Aghanistan or any of those dusty heck-holes.

This entire thing is going to weaken us militarily for the next 30 years, no one is going to forget the amount of broken promises done for such small gains and I fear that we may live to see our country become a second-class superpower on account of these fallen words and too many of our friends lost on account of them too.

-Pascal

[Photosoph]

God bless Zarn; I didn't realise you were going overseas -so I'll keep you in my prayers.
I hope you'll come back soon so that I may enjoy more of your wonderful poetry.

[Anna Mae]

(If I'm giving wrong advice please correct me from doing any more harm)

Well... What I have to say is stated much more eloquently in "Why We Fight" (not the WWII propaganda series but the modern documentary). I'll just say that things aren't so dandy as they may appear.

His quality of life as my friend means far more to me then the whole stupid country of Iraq, Afghanistan or any of those dusty heck-holes.

Are there not millions of people in those places whose lives are precious to God?

[Zarn Ishtare]

Sigh...Please clear my thread of your anti-this or that ramblings, dear friends.


I'm back. Poetry will be forthcoming, you crazy dodos.


As to Marines: I'll be shipping out for Boot in Feb.



Note: Politics ain't allowed on this board, but I will say this: Better over there in their houses than over here in mine. The Crusades didn't accomplish what they set out to do, but they at least contained the wars. We may not succeed in building a country, but at least we've got them occupied. I think that's enough.

[Zarn Ishtare]

Let's see if I remember how to do this.


"Politics"

The Iron Red Wolf grins and dances
Hunger for danger, glory and anger
Iron Knives, raised for reason, wanting
Justice, seeking righteous destruction

The White Cadet frowns and ponders,
Holds the leash but often wonders
discipline to guide the Craver
Like slopes of earth drive the gentle river

"Judgement, Judgement" cries the Reaper
Ebon-mantled, White bones showing
Needing Salvation, he fords the water
Of Justice deep and ever flowing.

And the Answer Back is...

"Mercy".
And the Heavenly Refrain
Echoes back and back again
Like the oars of time pushing through
Dark Waters, ever Rowing.







And another:

"All Nations are but an Evil Wind"


All Nations are an Evil Wind
Blowing through the empty places of men's minds
rooting themselves in the dark soil
blood-nurses them to bear fruit as a tree
but untouchable and untouched is the
One Good Fruit.

This one I cherish. the Wind has carried the seeds of a heavenly plant
in this lesser soil it flourishes

my Kingdom
My country
My Nation.

[Zarn Ishtare]

One does not often see silk in the dark.

But in the reflected moonlight of your eyes

I saw
all I needed to see.

your still form,
your breathing, so soft, moving your still form.

You shifted,

and in the night I comforted you.
I grasped your hand and spoke words of comfort.

I lay

my face towards you.

As if you would be stolen from me

I feared you would be stolen from me

knew that you'd be stolen from me.


You opened your eyes in the night
The most unfathomable eyes
deep and full pools, your eyes

You smiled. I wondered why
and pulled me down till I lay beside you.
You shift your head to my shoulder
I shift my arm to better hold you.


You reach to my face
your touch gentle
many hours and nights I dreamt of your
gentle touch and loving face.

You looked at me. You looked and I knew
that you had hidden, fled
away from shames and trials and fears
and for a night find comfort here.

I came up, my arms wrapped around you
somehow my head found your shoulder
and you knew that I
too
had left a life of toil, faith and fear
Seeking you, the comfort here.

You pushed me away
you caught my face, pushed it to see your face
And with eyes that glistened
you said my name.

No lovelier voice had ever said my name.
our necks came close to one another
heads leaning foraward, we sought
one last comfort, one strong embrace
As all angels sang out of all grace

When without warning I lost your face.

I awoke to
The toils, faiths and fears I had abandoned.
You too awoke to your trials and your tears
I prayed that you found comfort
I prayed that I'd find you
Prayed for you to come

I prayed.


As I lay tonight

Meditating on the depth of darkness
and the lack of light
I recalled the
Moon and the stars and your warm arms
that drove away the terrors of my Race.
Hoped to reach again in my dreams
that awed and sacred holy place
surrounded by walls of endless space.


"I promise you
I swear to you
I'll find you"





One does not often see silk in the dark.

But I saw all that I needed to see.

[Zarn Ishtare]

*sings*

"Oh where, oh where, have my reviewers gone, oh where oh where can they be...."

[goldenspines]

Ah, forgive me for not posting in here for a while. m(_ _)m
Your writings are enjoyable to read, as always, Zarn.
Now, for my attempts at reviews.

On "Politics":
I like the symbolism and personification you put in this. The poem also has a nice beat to it(especially the last two stanzas). Though, this does bring me to wonder why each stanza of this doesn't really "match" with the other stanza. The format of each one doesn't match with the others, I mean. Was that deliberate and am I perhaps missing some hidden meaning you put in there?

On "Mercy":
Not really much to say on this one, besides the fact that it is a fairly satisfying response to "Politics".

On "All Nations are but an Evil Wind":
Again, your symbolism in this works wonderfully. And Nations as Winds? An interesting thought. Which makes me take the thought a bit further and ask myself, if these nations are like winds, does that mean that they will eventually fade away like the wind does?
At any rate, this poem had a nice, conclusive ending. But it does leave room for further thought on the subject.

On your most recent poem that seems to have no name:
I loved the description in this. It painted a clear picture in my mind as I read it.
The emotions in this poem(especially in the last bit) seemed very powerful. As if, there was an overwhelming sadness and despair, yet mingling with hope.

I look forward to more of your writings when you see fit to post them. ^_^

[Zarn Ishtare]

Thanks alot, Golden. To clear a few things up:
The break-up of the stanza's is one of my few really cool ideas that I planned on. I'm not a reciting-of-my-own-poetry kind of guy, but I do take beat into account, and like to imagine someone much cooler than me reading it at the right tempo.

I must make the admission that "Mercy" is apart of "Politics", but represents a complete break in thought from the last three stanza's (In my mind, I called them quatrains, because it's four lines, though I realize that's not the actual meaning of the word). I was building on the concept of four (Four lines to a stanza, four stanza's in all), but when I came to the fourth stanza I could not keep the thread of thought flowing...I was absolutely stumped as to what would complete a poem about extremely simplified arch-types. I was in a spiritual kind of mood a few days later, and finished off the poem with "Mercy". (The quote marks around it are also to indicate that it was spoken). I'm not truly satisfied with the ending, but that happens sometimes.
As it happens, this poem was actually written about my own feelings on politics, and for me represents several feelings I was struggling with, but laid out much more prettily than in my own noggin.


For the Nations: Honestly, I just looked at a few of my older poems and drummed that out. Obviously, I don't consider MY nation an evil wind, and the latter part of the poem reflects my feelings for my own country.


As for the last poem: To be honest, this one was a battle to write, simply because there were so many good ideas. I hate editing my poetry except as I write it, except months later when the emotional drive that drove me to wrote it is gone. I had a steady thread of inspiration from beginning to near-end, and the only problem I really had was the ending. I feel pretty sure that I captured the feeling correctly, but it was a scary thing at the time I was writing it.

As an aside, I wrote this after waking up around 2 A.M., playing an AMV my sister sent me, which was set to The Beatles "Blackbird". The music, along with the AMV, really drove this poem to be what it is, and was worth the amount of time and the amount of words used to write it.

I've really not written much in the time I've been gone: I've tried to implement quality control so that I do not write unless I really have something good. I think that shows in "Politics" and the last poem (need to think of a name for it. I could just take the first verse and use that, but I'd like to be alittle less obvious.

[goldenspines]

The break-up of the stanza's is one of my few really cool ideas that I planned on. I'm not a reciting-of-my-own-poetry kind of guy, but I do take beat into account, and like to imagine someone much cooler than me reading it at the right tempo.

Understandable. That's what my guess was of why you wrote it that way. It does give the poem an interesting effect, even if it doesn't flow perfectly.

For the Nations: Honestly, I just looked at a few of my older poems and drummed that out. Obviously, I don't consider MY nation an evil wind, and the latter part of the poem reflects my feelings for my own country.

Ah, I see.
So it reflects patriotism in a way, then?
And getting inspiration from your older writings is not a bad thing. ^_^

As for the last poem: To be honest, this one was a battle to write, simply because there were so many good ideas. I hate editing my poetry except as I write it, except months later when the emotional drive that drove me to wrote it is gone. I had a steady thread of inspiration from beginning to near-end, and the only problem I really had was the ending. I feel pretty sure that I captured the feeling correctly, but it was a scary thing at the time I was writing it.

You captured the feeling in the ending quite well, I thought.
And I do know what you mean about editing poetry, once the inspiration is gone, it's hard to keep the same feel in the poem when editing than you did when you were actually writing it.

[Dante]

Pascal-

Well sadly I think that you're capable of doing better then these last ones, I can't really speak about the third untitled piece because I could never get love poetry... needless to say they're is a ton of love poetry out there so it's sort of an oversaturated market if you know what I mean.

Concerning nations are all but an evil wind, its patriotic but gives away to much you might want to hide it and relate it a bit more, especially given your current history. As a patriotic piece it feels overly loving. It also has some inconsistancies, like the fact that the m in my Country, and the k in My kingdom lack consistency at the end. Either caps 'em both or caps neither of them.

Politics I admit is nicely vague, but unfortunately I just don't get it. While you oft symbolize yourself (at least your id) by the wolf, the red iron wolf in a poem called politics almost seems like a Soviet reference but it's obviously not. Further, I'm not really sure what your trying to convey here, but maybe I just don't get it.

-Pascal
Keep up the good work, I know you make some incredble poetry.

[Photosoph]

As for where I've been... I usually just come back to check what's happening on CAA once every one, two or three weeks. So that's why it's taken me a while to see this.

So glad you're back, at least for a while. I'm glad for more poetry to read, too. ^_^

"Politics" ...As usual you fill it with wonderful imagery that has a real rhythm to its words. I loved that last verse; came along softer, after a pause; and I especially think the last two lines were really well done.
Like the oars of time pushing through
Dark Waters, ever Rowing.
Gives a really striking mental image.

"All Nations are but an Evil Wind"
Ah. Reading some later posts, I realise you were talking about your own country in the latter verses; when I read it, however, I saw it as speaking of the nation Israel being God's nation, and the seeds that the wind carried as God's people, Christians and Jews, among the nations.

As for the love poem... sheesh, very beautiful. There may be a lot of love poems out there, but seriously, what I've read is often sub-par etc. ^_^" This one is really lovely; again, beautiful imagery, and well written.

Thanks again for writing more; I really enjoy your poems. And I'm glad to see you back at CAA. \^_^

[Zarn Ishtare]

You know, if you ever want to try that project you wanted to do, where you drew pictures to the poetry, I would love to see it.

Thanks for the review, I'm glad you liked the last poem, apparently Pascal doesn't do romance

[USSRGirl]

My first thoughts upon seeing your latest work of poetic prose: "ZOMFINDUSTRIALISTMONGOLIANSOVIETSYMBOLISMYNESS!!!!!!!" Of course directly afterwards I released it was probably unintentional, but the line "iron red wolf" made me think Mongol empires because 1.) Ghengis Kahn's birth name means "iron enforcer" 2.) Red... well soviets of course! The former USSR/Sekhrsekhr region of Mongolia 3.) The wolf was the Mongol's ensignia connected with several legends ect. But as I know you would never intentionally go the way of the vile Tolkien and portray Mongols in a negative/darkened light..... *raising spork*

"Politics" and its supplement "Mercy" are definitely the best of your new writings in my opinion. I enjoy the ambiguity of them, and the way they relate back to one another reminds me a bit of Michael Ende's Mirror in the Mirror style.

On "All Nations..." I'm afraid I would have to share Pascal's opinion. It was too overt for my tastes, and also too propaganda-esque. (Apologies for skirting near a political rant here and please bear in mind that I'm generalizing) I'm rather tired of hearing countless Christians rant about how evil and withdrawn from God's hand America AKA "New Jerusalem" is (why doesn't anyone ever come up with conspiratorial Biblical theories about say Germany or Sweden?). Speaking from a strictly literary standpoint regardless of your opinion, it's become a cliche amongst Christian writers and musicians so I'd at least try to make it a bit more subtle.

Though I did like your line about the "One Good Fruit." I'm not sure if it was your intention or not, but the caps sounded like an allusion to Christ being the fruit hanging from the tree (the cross...) of life (giving us salvation).

As for Pasc's vendetta against romance poems... hrm... bad past experience leading to a life of cyncism? -.^ Well, I for one (two) liked the last poem. It flowed very well and the final lines were a good hanger.

Good stuff indeed! Chairwoman Temulin approves!

[Zarn Ishtare]

I realize that it was pretty bad, yeah, but I just felt like I HAD to write something after politics...so that's what comes out.


Care to be abit more indepth about the "Romance" (which I don't consider it as) poem, guys? It's been kinda vague, and that's the one that took the most effort and was the most inspired.

[USSRGirl]

Yeah, we can't all live on pessimism alone.

Well, as indepth as someone who only got three hours of sleep last night can be...

I liked how you used a timeshift to convey the feeling of loss, in when the speaker wakes up. The distinction between the first bit and the second bit also conveyed a nice shift from lighter feelings to darker feelings, and as I said liked the last line.

"I recalled the
Moon and the stars and your warm arms
that drove away the terrors of my Race." This line is the only one that sounds off. The capped 'Race' is hard to discern what you mean - I assumed humanity. It doesn't quite go with the feel of the rest of the poem, because you're popping out a third entity from the other too (the speaker and the object of his prose).

[Zarn Ishtare]

"Hobbiton Abandoned"

I see the hobbits, over the hills, walking.

They have set out from their hedge-holes

they have left the happy homestead behind

the last of our inhuman
humanity passes by

roads choked with cars and forests that hide the
hobbits, walking.


The last Orcs go wandering away

bent with age, their awfulness

marred by age and weakness

the last old scrappers smack their lips

and search for the other place, the first place.





I see the Ents

running from the world

passing through the fog, slowly

calling out for wayward wives

they seek the old world, the first world.


The Dwarves, oh clever brothers

they sleep now in stone beds,

deep within the riven-rock.

They dream in fire and gold and heat and sweat

of dragons and treasures and battle and glory

They are deep within their stone beds

buried deep within the riven-rock.






The Beautiful Race has passed over the sea

in proud gray ships, they fled from us

leaving cold iron and barren lands

and the cruel emptiness of the Last Homely House




We have succeeded

we have failed

we are the Triumphant race;

we are the Lonely Race.

[Photosoph]

Haha; yeah. ^_^"
Where's your romantic bone, Pascal?
...Don't worry, I'm just joking with you.

As for doing the project, I think I'm kind of booked up, so it's unlikely to happen. v_v Sorry about that. My hands still get sore and I've got quite a few projects lined up already.

Man... the new poem: very striking. Mostly the last lines. I also like how you mentioned the 'beautiful race', the elves; people really relate to them, so you sense the loss that losing them means.

I don't really understand the full meaning of all of it, but I get the sense of the treasures, wonders, adventures, and beauty; the real treasures in the non-physical sense having gone, after what we've made of our world.

[USSRGirl]

*twitches* ... Hobbit. >.O *twitches again*

On that note, I like the undertones of imagination/fantasy being dead in today's world. Reminds me of a poem I wrote a looong time ago, weirdly enough. o.0

I like this style though.

And those poor orcs...

[Zarn Ishtare]

*twitches* ... Hobbit. >.O *twitches again*

On that note, I like the undertones of imagination/fantasy being dead in today's world. Reminds me of a poem I wrote a looong time ago, weirdly enough. o.0

I like this style though.

And those poor orcs...

I wrote that part just for you, Temmy-me-dear. Maybe you'll thank me with an updated chibi version of myself, one abit more flattering than the last one?

[USSRGirl]

Perhaps a colorized rendition. >.O Drenched in cthulhu blood and missing an eyeball for the olde English 'me dear.' *sporks out a kidney and walks away*

[Zarn Ishtare]

This next poem should prove that I am not a nice man, contrary to popular belief.



The Late Reply
“The Late Reply”
(Mid-Conversation Declarations, Or
“A Late Reply To Wings, taking into account
the current state of affairs.”


But Love, You Did Not Know!

That fate foreclosed on our house of romance

Brick by brick we took it apart-

Together!

Not Alone!


Dearest Love?

From Above?

Fallacy!

Foolishness!

That Wingless Angel

Does NOT Exist!


Tearing herself from her own embraces

She tore out her natural eyes

To seek daylight princes in evening places

And left one pauper out to dry!



You Declared ME!

O Bone of Contention!

O Romance Of Stone!

The Heart That was re-knit

Now lives ALONE!


He stumbled in, her sunbeam king

The noble Lord upon golden throne

So giggling, she cavorted after him

And left one wounded wolf alone!


O Coyote Of Controversy!

O Angels Splayed On Many Crosses!

Martyred By Masked Faces

With Eyes that Are Your Own!


Her Sunlight sister was contorted

In bottles marked with “silence”

So wounded wolf reminded her

That container lay un-stoppered

She could escape at any time!


O Foppish King!

O Copper Crown!

Your brass kingdom is counter-fit

It’s Citizens are Clowns!

So Now, Let Me Turn

Your Worn Out World
Upside Down!


Now Aimless Wolf and Sunlit Sister

Wander Together, Not Alone

She-Queen Of Nothing

He, The Roaming Gnome!


Ah, Cackling Contusion

O Heart Of Illusion

You Escaped your Mortal Fate

Only to Find Your Cruxi-Fiction instead!

Your Martyrdom was Faulty

But your kindness is still Dead.

End:

So Homeless Gnome And Nothing Queen

Skip Merrily Through Confused Looker-Ons

(Meowing ‘Bout Unicorns And Counting Pages)

And Moonlit Lady and Sunbeam King

(Oh, Those Majestic And Amazing Things)

Can go screw themselves, after all.”





Written For She-Who-Must-Not-Be-Blamed, that Golden Haired Idealist, That Rascally Scoundrel the Wolf, and that Sunlit Sister, Who currently rules a thousand kingdoms of Potatoes Tomatoes, And Love.

POTATOES!

[Chu-Chu]

This one's one of my favorites.

[Zarn Ishtare]

Edit:


Eh, dramallama. It's a boring poem anyway.

[Anna Mae]

"Politics"

The Iron Red Wolf grins and dances
Hunger for danger, glory and anger
Iron Knives, raised for reason, wanting
Justice, seeking righteous destruction This reminds me on Inuit hunting practices (good thing). I really like your rhyme scheme in this stanza. It works well. I also like how you don't keep the rhyme scheme consistent throughout the poem; it serves your purposes nicely.

The White Cadet frowns and ponders,
Holds the leash but often wonders the leash of the wolf, I assume?
discipline to guide the Craver
Like slopes of earth drive the gentle river

"Judgement, Judgement" cries the Reaper
Ebon-mantled, White bones showing
Needing Salvation, he fords the water
Of Justice deep and ever flowing.

And the Answer Back is...

"Mercy".
And the Heavenly Refrain
Echoes back and back again
Like the oars of time pushing through
Dark Waters, ever Rowing. I just assumed that "Politics" and "Mercy" were the same poem.



I first assumed "Dark Silk" (as I have so dubbed the poem that begins "One does not often see silk in the dark.") was a love poem to a human female, but by the end I wasn't so sure.



"...O Angels Splayed On Many Crosses!..." *winces*



It's good to see you back, Zarn.

[Zarn Ishtare]

"Politics"

The Iron Red Wolf grins and dances
Hunger for danger, glory and anger
Iron Knives, raised for reason, wanting
Justice, seeking righteous destruction This reminds me on Inuit hunting practices (good thing). I really like your rhyme scheme in this stanza. It works well. I also like how you don't keep the rhyme scheme consistent throughout the poem; it serves your purposes nicely.

The White Cadet frowns and ponders,
Holds the leash but often wonders the leash of the wolf, I assume?
discipline to guide the Craver
Like slopes of earth drive the gentle river

"Judgement, Judgement" cries the Reaper
Ebon-mantled, White bones showing
Needing Salvation, he fords the water
Of Justice deep and ever flowing.

And the Answer Back is...

"Mercy".
And the Heavenly Refrain
Echoes back and back again
Like the oars of time pushing through
Dark Waters, ever Rowing. I just assumed that "Politics" and "Mercy" were the same poem.



I first assumed "Dark Silk" (as I have so dubbed the poem that begins "One does not often see silk in the dark.") was a love poem to a human female, but by the end I wasn't so sure.



"...O Angels Splayed On Many Crosses!..." *winces*



It's good to see you back, Zarn.

Thanks, Anna. As to the first: I actually keep the same "Feel" during the first three stanzas. Try saying them aloud at different speeds till you hear the rhyme, I do actually keep a scheme together.

Yes, the leash of the wolf. This poem is about my personal feelings on Politics, after all.

Mercy is the end of "Politics". Not my favorite ending, but it was the only one that worked.

"Dark Silk"...hmm....Sounds intriguing. But yeah, that poem was written at 2 A.M. inspired by "Blackbird" by the Beatles. It had a good AMV, so I watched/listened to that and wrote that poem. It's my favorite of all my recent ones.



As to the last poem: That poem is about five, six months old. I wrote it about real things (Something I HATE to do) which is why its not nearly as good as my other stuff. I found my private LJ again recently and thought I hadn't posted it on CAA, so I slapped it on here. (Truth is, I HAD posted it a looong time ago.)

[Zarn Ishtare]

New poem, about two weeks old:

"Fragile In Blue"

Holding onto blue vases

made of glass, the fragile

container

She twists, gently in the blue light

in a white dress

holding a vase filled with lilies

she's staring into my eyes.


I'm in love with the lady

with the blue glass vase.






Older Poem, unknown time of writing, probably before my break from CAA:

"Feast"


Friend, this feast is yours

I do not begrudge you this meat. This feast is yours to eat.

Pray, friend, eat and partake. This meat is yours; take, and eat.

Once I had this feast, and it was good, and I moved on.

Now I pray thee, partake and do the same.

Eat, friend: It is good. The feast is yours; pray partake, and take your full.

This meal is yours to eat.



With all of the banquets in the world,

Our dining could not be different.

Pray Partake, and eat.

[Anna Mae]

Being the pedant that I am, I got bogged down in "Fragile In Blue" trying to form complete sentences. The color scheme is pretty, though.

"Feast" gives me the impression that the potential feaster is somewhat reluctant to eat. I get this impression because of how many times the speaker urges the potential feaster to partake. I find the first two lines of the last stanza the most interesting.

[USSRGirl]

>.O Eh... was the potato part cannon? *blinks and stares and wonders if Zarn is getting tips from Fone Bone on his poetry* Personally, the latest one felt a bit over done to me and too messy/indiscernable in the aforementioned symbols. And... for some reason it just bugs me when writes do the "or" thing with the title... it just sounds so snobberish and overly-lofty. *shrugs*