Between the trees, the sky has fallen through;
it has been conjured into nodding bells,
Beltane’s all-knowing fairy traps of truth.
It’s a Beltane pool, a soft echo of blue
to dive into, a deep enchanted well
between trees, where the sky has fallen through.
In among the trees the magic grew
a shivering, shimmering wood of spells
hidden in Beltane’s fairy traps of truth.
The undercurrent seems to pull you
down into the roots, as if you fell
between the trees. The sky has fallen through
a place you thought that you outgrew,
a childhood secret in a woody dell,
awash with Beltane’s fairy traps of truth.
Now it’s threatened by a chainsaw-wielding crew,
whose fantasies have long been quelled.
Between the trees, the sky has fallen through.
We must rescue Beltane’s fairy traps of truth.
Kim M. Russell, 26th April 2021
Image by Click and Learn Photography on Unsplash
My response to earthweal weekly challenge: Approaching Beltane (Bright Fire)
Sarah is back this week with a timely prompt for Beltane, also known as May Day, the second of the druidic cross-quarter festivals. She reminds us that Beltane means ‘bright fire’ and that fire is really important to this festival, together with sacred wells and water.
Sarah tells us all about May Day celebrations. I remember them from childhood as maypole dances and May queens – south London wasn’t very big on tradition.
She also describes Beltane as the joy of fertility, and potential, a time when opposites come together: fire and water, the goddess and the horned god. A time for love and reflection on what we are planting spiritually. Moreover, May Day is International Workers Day.
Sarah would like us to think about: the joy of the union of the horned god and the goddess; how opposite energies work together to bring about something new; the work that goes into fertility; water and fire. Whatever we choose to write about, we must remember that this is a celebration, of new life, of love and of the endless bounty of this planet.
I took an old quadrille and rewrote it as a villanelle.
writing in north norfolk 
Amazing! So beautiful and so sad. The repetition just works perfectly. It is a chiming bell of language, rhythm and intensity. I just love it.
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You’ve made my day!
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🙂
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Between this outstanding villanellle and Merril Smith’s mind-blowing pantoum, I’m looking for a quiet, dark, formal poetry corner to cringe in while offering up only my mindless song parody.
This is truly amazing work KR.
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Thanks so much, Ron!
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That blue’s a rich saturate, guaranteed to enchant us back to childhood. Sadly though I don’t think there’s any hex strong enough to blunt the chain saws. How the fairies need stronger laws from clear-eyed legislatures … B
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Thank you, Brendan. We are very fortunate to have The Woodland Trust and other such organisations to ensure nobody cuts down trees without a very good reason.
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Such a beautiful poem, that hits the heart when the trees are threatened. I love the “fairy traps of truth”. In Tofino we have been working for two years with Council to pass a tree protection bylaw but they are dragging their heels.
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Thank you, Sherry. I hope the Tofino trees are saved and protected, it’s heartbreaking to think that any living thing can be just chopped down.
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Ride a White Swan xxx
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Wonderful!
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Thank you, Tiffany!
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We must! What a magic interweaving of words and images. (K)
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😊
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A fine villanelle for Beltane, Kim! I agree that in a world full of lies and deceit, ‘We must rescue Beltane’s fairy traps of truth.’
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Thank you very much, Ingrid!
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