You woke me up
in the early hours
with your persistence
and your words.
Now I’m up
before the birds,
brain whirring,
fingers tapping,
slave to the emphatic vatic.
I’m tired but thankful,
but an image would be useful,
something ekphrastic
to brighten up my dreams.
Kim M. Russell, 29th September 2020
My response to dVerse Poets Pub Poetics: The Vatic Voice
Lisa is our host this Tuesday and she has brought us a word that is new to me: vatic. Lisa has researched the word for us and given us various definitions and explanations, as well as examples. I personally like her explanation: ‘How many times have you felt like someone or something else wrote your poem and you were merely the transmitter? I think this is what is meant by vatic.’
I’ve often been woken by a phrase, a line and even whole poems, which send me scrabbling out of bed to jot down. More often than not, I then venture into my study in the wee hours to work on whatever I’ve been handed in my dreams.
Lisa’s recap is also helpful in understanding vatic. She says ‘the vatic voice of a poet is one that is infused with spirit that comes from another place. That voice has been regarded by some as a sign of divine transmission and by others as a sign of madness.’
The challenge is to write a poem in any form about the vatic voice: wrote a quadrille.
writing in north norfolk 
I like the thought of being awoken by a phrase … for me it’s often the sound that talks to me… and then it’s like laying a puzzle-
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I sometimes wake up with a whole poem, Bjorn!
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I often lie awake thinking over a line and where it’s leading, but I fond that poems, like dream stories, sound brilliant when I’m asleep but less good when I wake. No worth getting up and disturbing the dog for anyway 🙂
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I hope our cats understand. 🙂
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Ours wouldn’t. Humans serve only to open the biscuit box. Human arriving in the middle of the night can mean only one thing—first breakfast.
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I love “slave to the emphatic vatic” and the image you chose. I like them in dreams and when found walking along the path. I also like reading about how songwriters find those lines that take a song from ordinary to extraordinary.
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Thank you, Lisa. My husband used to write songs for his band. He’s writing a book about his experiences.
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Now that is cool, Kim!
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p.s. I just finished Keith Richards’ book and loved it.
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Love these lines:
“I’m tired but thankful,
but an image would be useful,
something ekphrastic
to brighten up my dreams.”
It’s amazing the inspiration we get from dreams, and you describe this so brilliantly! I can’t say that a dream has been the source of inspiration or lines for me, but often, I ponder before bed as words/phrases float around in my mind. Sometimes, I jot them down. Others, I make a mental note to use the word or phrase in the future. Not quite dreaming when I’m still somewhat lucid. Hahaha.
Beautifully written piece, as always. I enjoy reading your work. ❤
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That makes me truly happy, Lucy.
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I have experienced this. 3 a.m. poetry is so raw!
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And it often develops into something special.
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What is this ‘sleep’ thing, of which you speak? Poems wake you from sleep? Mine either forbid me from falling asleep or cause me to doze and nod.
Not yours though; yours rocks my waking world. Thanks
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😉
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Dreams are the door between upper and lower worlds for me, so the conversation there is always precious … and there’s no point in arguing with a dream! Which is, I think, good instruction when channeling a vatic sooth. I’m just the guy holding the pen. Thanks – Brendan
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That is so true – no point arguing with a dream.
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Almost every poem has a touch of the vatic voice in it. My dream poems seldom survive the 3am jotting.
But we joke about Muses, and appreciate creativity and imagination, yet those words, that voice blossoms in each of us .
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It does, Glenn.
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Inspiration is fleeting Kim, and searching for it — exhausting… 🙂
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🙂
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That vatic muse is always welcome.
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Great fun Kim. Poetry is the cruelest and most insistent muse – with terrible opening hours. I was thinking about grapefruits this morning at about 2 – how do you describe grapefruits?. Grapefruits!. Great Cezanne image too.
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Thanks Peter. I agree about the opening hours. I got up late this morning and am trying to catch up so I can get down to writing. My muse is so impatient.
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LIKE THE POEM
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Thank you, Eileen!
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I love the image you’ve used here and how you’ve tied it to your words. ‘slave to the emphatic vatic’ – how wonderful to be woken up by lines of poetry! The image reminds me of Blake, a little: I think he saw angels everywhere, and I think they spoke to and/or through him. What sounds like madness often makes for the best poetry!
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Thank you, Ingrid. Yes, writing poetry is a bit like hearing voices or communicating with invisible forces, which some people might think of as mad., It is something over which I sometimes have no control.
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This is indeed a remarkable poem, being stirred by your muse. And such a lovely team-up withe that Cezanne
Much💓love
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Thanks Gillena!
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wow, my muse is better trained … even if I think of something I sleep on it and then deal with it on waking at my usual hour.
This is a lovely play on words Kim, well done!
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Thank you, Kate!
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Poems that wake you seem to burn themselves into the brain. Coming back from such an experience can take quite a while.
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My dream scribbles, like Jane’s, make no sense in the morning. But I find fatigue at any time of the day to be a good channel for the vatic voice. I love your illustration, too (she did send one after all!) (K)
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She sent me one alright, but I had to look for it!
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