Hanged Man, a poem by Clarissa Simmens

Ryder Waite Tarot XII, U.S. Public Domain

“’Christ! You know it ain’t easy
You know how hard it can be
The way things are going
They’re going to crucify me'” *



Crow cawing in early morning clouds
Tallest tree invisible in fog
Tarot’s Hanged Man
Initiation into a mysterious world
Odin hung for 9 days
Euhemerizationally** sacrificing his eye
Think of other mythical and biblical
Heroes hung over the centuries
All in the name of knowledge
Ah, but John Lennon
Knew he was a sacrifice
No worse than others
Yet, in his quest for wisdom
He cried out to us:
“Christ! You know it ain’t easy
You know how hard it can be
The way things are going
They’re going to crucify me” *
He knew, he knew
But tell me who
Would assassinate a rocker?
So many of us
Hanging in silence
Smoke and steam
Muffling our dreams
Then thinking we’ve learned
Slip off the slip knot
Abrading the ankle’s skin
Moving into the Earth’s valley
Carrying new knowledge
But never satisfied
And in time
Wake up to find
We’re back on the tree
Dangling in space
Another lesson to memorize
A path to retrace…

.
(c) 2018 Clarissa Simmens (ViataMaja)

.
This is poem is an excerpt from Clarissa’s collection Cording the Cards and shared here with Clarissa’s permissions.

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* The Ballad of John and Yoko

CLARISSA SIMMENS (Poeturja) is an independent poet; Romani drabarni (herbalist/advisor); ukulele and guitar player; wannabe song writer; and music addict. Favorite music genres include Classic Rock, Folk, Romani (Gypsy), and Cajun with an emphasis on guitar and violin music mainly in a Minor key. Find her onAmazon’s Author Page, on her blog, and on Facebook HERE.

Clarissa’s books include: Chording the Cards & Other Poems, Plastic Lawn Flamingos & Other Poems, and Blogetressa, Shambolic Poetry.


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