Saturday, October 12, 2019

From the Depths of Darkness, a Light

“In dark we see, in death we rest; a beautiful frightening magic.” Khaya Ronkainen
On the cover, an exhausted moon watches over the world through a shroud of blood and darkness. Each page reminds us that borders break bodies and devour souls, that inaction is mother to despair and death, that hope turns to myth when humans forget that the whole world—dirt, beast, bloom—is made of the same star stuff: chaos raging in the dark, conscious thought fighting to kindle hope.
from the depths
of darkness, lived ink
can birth light

From the Depths of Darkness, by Khaya Ronkainen
cover by Ayala Art
painting (on the background) by Shelle Kennedy

- on her Wild Friday at Poets United, Sanaa invited us to pick a poetry collection that has touched us deeply, and write a response poem. I chose From the Depths of Darkness, written by Khaya Ronkainen and illustrated by MagicLoveCrow. Her brief, “dark poetry left in the light” sticks to head and heart for a long time. For instance, the poem bit at the beginning of this post has been dancing around my skull for days and days and days…
- linked to the Poetry Pantry #496

53 comments:

  1. I love this: “the whole world—dirt, beast, bloom”

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  2. O, I hope so! And now, based solely (soul-ly) on your poem, I will have to read this book.

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    1. I hope you connect with these dark poems Susan, when you finally read the book. Thank you in advance for your support!

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  3. I like the idea that light can be birthed out of dark!

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  4. This is absolutely exquisite, Magaly!❤️ I love the idea of lived ink birthing light! I believe being writers we do wield such power. Thank you so much for writing to the prompt!😍😍

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  5. I love the quote, and your wonderful response. (And now I have bought Khaya's book.)

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    1. Rosemary, thank you so much for your support. It means a lot to me. Hope you connect with the book. 🙏🏽

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  6. The phrase and concept "from the depths" resonates with my life.

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  7. Oh dear, Maga! How wonderful and spot-on you have captured the essence of this small collection with your outstanding haibun. Lived ink can birth light, and hope, indeed, especially in these troubled times. Many thanks from the bottom of my heart for this shout-out, and beautiful write-up about this chapbook. Much appreciated!🙏🏽😊

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    1. Your words linger, my friend... And they sing to be shared.

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  8. I love the thought of ink and light - a treasure of a post

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  9. We can always rely on you Magaly to get to the guts of the matter especially as you love writing about blood and darkness and coming out of it unscathed.

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  10. "...hope turns to myth when Humans forget..."
    Says it all.

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  11. Borders breaking bodies-a phrase that will stay with me for a long time!

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  12. "inaction is mother to despair and death"

    I'm going to clutch those words fiercely, as though my life depended on them. Which, of course, it does. Thank you, Magaly.

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    1. We shall hold on to them (and make them grow) together.

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  13. Profound...loved every line!

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  14. This sounds like a collection to inspire!

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  15. This is so beautiful. I'm going to hunt down that book.
    blessings
    ~*~

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    1. Hope you do find it, Laura. Thank you for interest!

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  16. Magaly, hello after a long period offline! So glad to see you at Jae's site.

    This sounds like a book I will need to ask for at our library. Thanks so much! Peace, Amy

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    1. Hi Amy, if you are not based in Finland, unfortunately you won't find this chapbook at your library. But I appreciate your interest!

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    2. So good to read you again, Amy. Like Khaya said, the book is not available through the library, but it's worth getting online.

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  17. Lived ink gives the most beautiful light. I have Khaya's book in my Kindle, ready to illuminate my mind. :)

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  18. your poems do dance on "paper" (computer screen:) - I like the idea of them dancing in your head as well. Oh, the power of ink.

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  19. Wonderful- can't wait to read it!

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  20. How we write ourselves out of the dark can be so illuminating. Love it.

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  21. Thanks, Magaly! Now I have to read this book.

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    1. Thank you so much Sara, I appreciate your support.

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  22. I love Khaya's book and I loved being apart of it! Big Hugs!

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    1. Seeing both your work together makes me smile in all sorts of ways.

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  23. My art never looks better than when it is near your words Ms Wicked, and love the fact I that MagicLoveCrow & AyalaArt there & Khaya Ronkainen's book... aww... magic

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    1. I'm all grins right now. Because I, of course, feel the same way!

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