8-25-20 HAND PRINTS (REVISED FROM 2018)

Grimoire
Magic spell book
But aren’t most books
Enticingly magical?
Most writers want to
Weave a spell
Enchant the reader
An alphabet put together
Interpreting the
Arcane codes
True, some are more
Grimoire-y than others
But the hope is always the same
Book of Shadows
For memories to reclaim

Anyone could make a
Physical book
Cutting, pasting
Dreaming
Mine contains words
Pictures
Photos
And amulets in drawstring pouches
What will you make?
It is the book that will
Define your legacy
The hand prints on
The door of our universe
Saying, “I WAS HERE”

(AIR)

I took a trip
To learn why
Writers stifle colors
And artists go for blank
Turned the page
Explaining how to fly
Instructions specific
For a heady trip
Here was I
Looping through the sky
Thought I’d die
Scared to be so high
But relaxed into the rhythm
Balancing on the cold
Atmospheric road
Where the night sky
Anchors us to life
But the silver cord tugged
And back I fluttered
Merely a feather
Drifting onto my bed

(WATER)

Another lonely night
Riffling through pages
Scanning the list
Of Love Potions
Devastated from rejection
Needed him back
But would I want him
Under magical circumstances?
No, I want real love
Equal partnership
No controlling
No binding
Free choice
As I expect it for me
So I rejected that conjuration
For whomever needed to put
General love into their life
And splashed through the
Outgoing tides
Searching for the Sea Henge
Upside down tree of life
Teach me, I breathed
How to survive
Alone

(EARTH)

Sick next day but not in bed
Probably sadness put it in my head
Sat shivering over my Grimoire
And there
In plain English
Well, mostly
Was the Ena Drab Farmeko*
Nine-herb charm
The secret cure
In my backyard
Or in fields and forests
Swamps and even health food stores
Found bits and pieces of the herbs
Stirred, sieved, suffused
Sipped, slept
Earth’s magic
Strengthening my resolve
To evolve into
A perfect balance
Of marbleized black and white
A swirling mixture
Of Yin and Yang
As my voice sang out
In harmony

(FIRE)

Oh, the spirit
Belief, relief
In caring about the world
And all contributing to
The Buzz
Of a vibrant planet
Paper, wood
Instant campfire
Envy of embers
Help us see
Each other as real
Blazing through the dark
Bright, straight, strong
But alone
Hoping it will smoulder
Giving the cold heat shoulder
Resentful hot hatred
Scorches, sears, singes
In order to extinguish
A lone flame
What price incandescence…

(c) 2018 Clarissa Simmens (ViataMaja)
IMAGE: My Grimoire

*ENA DRAB FARMEKO (for those interested in simple herbs)

ENA DRAB FARMEKO (NINE-HERB CHARM)

8-17-20 MORNING

Most mornings
Jack-in-the-box
Out of bed
So sure today
Is the adventure
I’ve awaited
My entire life
Day wears on
But I do not despair
I’m aware
Tomorrow is another chance
For fame, fortune or romance
To fulfill my fanciful dreams

But now body and mind
Won’t let me find
The magic of life
Pandemics
Anarchy
Politics
Poverty
New label called
“Elderly”
Hide behind my smiling mask
In reality
I’m mentally
In a fetal position
On the floor
Clutching my blankey
Wishing it would all go away

So far it is temporary
Self-curing when
I stop reading the news
Play my concertina and ukulele
Write to friends and family
Spoil my dogs
Enter new worlds
Through games or books
And all is right with my world
The Magic returns
And I try to remember
That I am a connoisseur
Of alternate but happy
Life creations…

© 2020 Clarissa Simmens (ViataMaja)
IMAGE: Pineapple Magic

ELEMENTAL COMPASS (song-in-progress)

(Well-water pump broke last Saturday so wrote the water part and have continued.  Guitar chords to be added)

Garden rebelled/ Odd bugs expelled/ Movement from the Earth
Kicking the dirt/ A wild revert/ Out-of-control screams the Earth
Snake-filled habitat/ I issue a caveat/ But no one can stop the Earth
Only weeds grow/ Country version of Skid Row/ but no escape from Earth

Earth, Water, Air and Fire
Elements aid but sometimes conspire

Well pump broke/ Up in smoke/ How can I live without Water
Plenty of tears/fighting my fears/but that’s not really Water
Follow the ley lines/watch out for land mines/block oceans of Water
Finally time to be free/ Not much can stop me/ Far from evaporated Water

Earth, Water, Air and Fire
Elements aid but sometimes conspire

Tornados screech at dawn/ Trailer hugs the lawn/ Fear blooms from the Air
Wind wild and free/ How I want that for me/ Can I flee the Air
Breeze builds to violence/ All super-intense/ But trees shield from the Air
Bird feathers ruffle/Gusting will muffle/ Songs silent in the Air

Earth, Water, Air and Fire
Elements aid but sometimes conspire

Stuff must be burned/ One thing I learned/ Destroy using Fire
Travel with speed/ Avoid hearts that bleed/ Passion cooled by Fire
If I can’t forget/ When we first met/ Cauterize it all with Fire
Start a new life/Cut memories with a knife/ Burning desire with Fire

Earth, Water, Air and Fire
Elements aid but sometimes conspire

(c) 2020 Clarissa Simmens (ViataMaja)
IMAGE: Broken water pump last Saturday

SHADES OF A HEALING MOON

Blue box
Overflowing blue and silver
Blue-Water-tides
Silver-sun-in-darkness
Blue Buddha
Medicine Buddha of Fire
Lapis Lazuli of Light*
Blue Jay feather of Air
My dissident Crow
Smirking at the words
Love & Peace
He truly does know
Maiden, Mother and Mage
Three stages of the Moon
Archangels from heaven
Lugging the key of knowledge
To decipher the Earthen gifts
Of silver saints
Matrona
Hildegard der Bingen
Mother Teresa
Healers all
Hear me
Heal me
Or bestow the
Bravery of Kali
On this silver-haired
Blues-singing
Sometimes scared
Cancer-Rising Aries
Clutching her portable altar
Night after night
In healing moonlight…

(c) 2019 Clarissa Simmens (ViataMaja)
IMAGE: Portable altar
*Medicine Master and King of Lapis Lazuli Light

From Wildmind.com: (tadyatha:) oṃ bhaiṣajye bhaiṣajye maha bhaiṣajye
bhaiṣajya raje samud gate svaha Hail! Appear, O Healer, O Healer, O Great Healer, O
King of Healing!

 

ESCAPE FROM PINK

Born in an April Pink Rose Moon
Lover of red and black
Roses and sun beams
Suddenly smack against the wall
Of no longer striving to be happy
Personable or at-least-cute
Swimming in worry
Unable to rise to the glass’s top
Like newly-poured sweet cream

Mapped my way from Earth to sky
Head tilted at a neck-aching angle
Eyes constantly on the night sky prize
Searching for an older body’s scheme
While gravity grounds me physically
But emotionally all over the top
Bouncing off walls
Like an astronaut in training
Living in extremes
Wanting to float
Like myriad space debris
As an ultimate dream
Untethered from the Earth

How I wonder if my books have worth
I think of Bukowski’s poetry
The Last Day of the Earth Poems
Aged and sad
Maybe planning his final leap
Grim and dark
Hardly a sunny gleam
But poets don’t lie
We wrap our truth in starry dreams
Oh, yes, the reality is there
As you strip away the pretty paper and ribbons
Uncovering silent lunar screams

Have I reached too far
Over-reacting to aging?
I should ground myself
Rejoin the flamingo flock
Stop the aging themes
Enjoy the earth, water, air and fire
The base of all our alchemical balance
The stuff that weaves together
Human dreams
Should…

(c) 2019 Clarissa Simmens (ViataMaja)
IMAGE: Flamingos & star globes 4

FRAGRANT RELEASE

When days are dragging me down
People seem made more like daggers
And I’m saturated with sadness
That leaks onto the grass and dirt
I have my ways
Of relieving the pressure

There is music, of course
Reading, writing, chocolate
But a forgotten feeling
Resurfaced when the FDA
Became involved with herbs
Raising prices
Banning bottles and jars
Of alternative medicines

So after a few days of
Rejection and feeling
Like invasive vines
Are creeping all over me
When my people skills suffer
From autism
When once again I become
The mistress of the
Inappropriate remark
From autism
When no one will tell me what I have done
I crawl into my magic center
That has room for only one
Closing my eyes
Until a vision appears
And I hear
Triple, triple
Make a ripple
Pour and stir
Blood Root and Myrrh
Plantain and Golden Seal
And other herbs so ideal

It is New Moon
And I add 100 proof vodka
And daily shake the jar
Extracting Earthen properties
In watery medium
As wind stirs the contents
And fiery moon distills and augments
Relaxing as I add and mix
Handle and sing
Wondering
How I could forget the peace
Brought by the release
Of endorphins

Then, when
The moon is a silver medallion
Metal more precious than gold
I sieve and save the healing liquid
Add melted beeswax
Breathing loving words
Passing along the peace
Inside tiny jars
That will hold
An ageless recipe
Of earth, water, air and fire
Ingredients working together
Like a vocal range in a choir
A mystical tether…

(c) 2019 Clarissa Simmens (ViataMaja)
IMAGE: Herbs and Dogs and Strings and Things

#13 DEATH/TRANSITION

#13 DEATH (TRANSITION)

My mind’s Table of Elements
Contains merely four that matter
In my primitive, unscientific way
Folding them like dry laundry
One for each drawer

We swim in Water
Fly in Air
But Earth smothers
While Fire flays us to the bone
Do I prefer Air and Water
Because, interestingly,
Earth and Fire are the
Final bed for the dead
Unless one dies in mid-ocean
Or is lost in space
Then the body’s chucked out the hatch
To float unmatched
In silent darkness

Space is the cleanest
Space doesn’t eat you like
Sea creatures
Blazes or
Worms of the soil
Death is messy
That is why I
Call it “Transition”
Just a biological stage
To something better

Death comes to all
Jim Morrison said it best
“No one gets out of here alive”
If I have strength
And know my time of rest
Will rent storage space
And decorate with streamers
Also a sign saying
“A beautiful death”
My small elephant table
Holding bottles of juice
And music to encourage
Stiff family members
To let loose
My piddling possessions:
Dollar store container of Grimoires
One with self published books
Tarot cards and amulets
Junky wampum stored with much affection
Tiny boxes and spoon collections
With a prized key earned in mid life education
Despite being a writer
Will only have one sealed note for each

Yes, death is transition
Because surely our heart and brain
Our passion and spirit
Cannot fade
Leaving it all as the
Nihilists claim, a life with
No intrinsic meaning
No, that is
Not my philosophical leaning…

(c) 2019 Clarissa Simmens (ViataMaja)
IMAGE: #13 Death/Transition

HAND PRINTS

Grimoire
Magic spell book
But aren’t most books
Enticingly magical?
Most writers want to
Weave a spell
Enchant the reader
An alphabet put together
Interpreting the
Arcane codes
True, some are more
Grimoire-y than others
But the hope is always the same
Book of Shadows
For memories to reclaim

 

Anyone could make a
Physical book
Cutting, pasting
Dreaming
Mine contains words
Pictures
Photos
And amulets in drawstring pouches
What will you make?
It is the book that will
Define your legacy
The hand prints on
The door of our universe
Saying, “I WAS HERE”

(Air)

I took a trip
To learn why
Writers stifle colors
And artists go for blank
Turned the page
Explaining how to fly
Instructions specific
For a heady trip
Here was I
Looping through the sky
Thought I’d die
Scared to be so high
But relaxed into the rhythm
Balancing on the cold
Atmospheric road
Where the night sky
Anchors us to life
But the silver cord tugged
And back I fluttered
Merely a feather
Drifting onto my bed

 

(WATER)

Another lonely night
Riffling through pages
Scanning the list
Of Love Potions
Devastated from rejection
Needed him back
But would I want him
Under magical circumstances?
No, I want real love
Equal partnership
No controlling
No binding
Free choice
As I expect it for me
So I rejected that conjuration
For whomever needed to put
General love into their life
And splashed through the
Outgoing tides
Searching for the Sea Henge
Upside down tree of life
Teach me, I breathed
How to survive
Alone

(Earth)

Sick next day but not in bed
Probably sadness put it in my head
Sat shivering over my Grimoire
And there
In plain English
Well, mostly
Was the Ena Drab Farmeko*
Nine-herb charm
The secret cure
In my backyard
Or in fields and forests
Swamps and even health food stores
Found bits and pieces of the herbs
Stirred, sieved, suffused
Sipped, slept
Earth’s magic
Strengthening my resolve
To evolve into
A perfect balance
Of marbleized black and white
A swirling mixture
Of Yin and Yang
As my voice sang out
In harmony

(FIRE)

Oh, the spirit
Belief, relief
In caring about the world
And all contributing to
The Buzz
Of a vibrant planet
Paper, wood
Instant campfire
Envy of embers
Help us see
Each other as real
Blazing through the dark
Bright, straight, strong
But alone
Hoping it will smoulder
Giving the cold heat shoulder
Resentful hot hatred
Scorches, sears, singes
In order to extinguish
A lone flame
What price incandescence…

(c) 2018 Clarissa Simmens (ViataMaja)
IMAGE: My Grimoire

*ENA DRAB FARMEKO (for those interested in simple herbs)

ENA DRAB FARMEKO (NINE-HERB CHARM)

HAIKU (BUTTON BOX SORTILEGE)

Trinkets collected
Tactile and vibrational
Replacing tarot

Button box contents
Imbued with spiritual thoughts
Provide sound guidance

A guitar-shaped spoon
Conveyance of Nature’s gifts
Security roots

Earth is survival
Balance food and drink cravings
Healthful harmony

Smothered emotions
Denial not always wise
Concede pain and heal

Water perceives pain
Let the tide carry it out
And begin anew

All birds rule the sky
Drifting feathers are symbols
To rise above fear

Air is mindful life
Thought a logical process
Remember to soar

A John Lennon coin
Perfectionist musician
His image says, “Do!”

Fire is spirit
Music bridges body-soul
Practice makes perfect

After decades of reading cards, interpreting tea leaves and coffee grounds, plotting
astrological charts, numerological studies, elemental skrying, and welcoming in the
new century by using an internet random number generator to receive guidance in this sometimes-overwhelming life, I craved a different way to divine. So I combined my favorite pastime, looking and touching and dreaming over the 4-dimensional
contents of my button box that, of course, contains more than buttons. I don’t
wear anything with buttons anyway. Just slide shirts or tunics over my head and
ready for the day. So here’s what I do: close my eyes and whatever I touch first
is brought to light. I hold it think about it, imbue it with my physical and
spiritual body shell. Depending on how complicated the question is, or the answer
I require, I may continue to choose four (one for each element) or ten (like a
beginner’s tarot reading) or whatever I have time for. This is what I found,
to share with you, via haiku.

(c) 2018 Clarissa Simmens (ViataMaja)
IMAGE: My button box

 

MERRY MONTH OF MAY

Month of May
Pouring rain
Six inches
Looked at last May’s
Poetry
One about the drought
Starkey Park on fire
Mere miles from my house
Now tropical storms
Daily pourings
With an electric light show
Burning the weeping sky
My dogs wet
Doing bladder runs
Between the drops
Poured coffee but no chance to drink
Poured cold coffee back in the pot
Poured back into the cup, hot
Dried the fur of three
Changed my wet clothes
Wondering if I’ll ever get to see
May deluges bringing May flowers
Maybe June will bring some sanity
Calming the mutability
Of elemental water…

(c) 2018 Clarissa Simmens (ViataMaja)
IMAGE: 3 wet dogs