Poem: "The Relativity of Tragedy"
This is today's first freebie. It was inspired by a prompt from new prompter DW user Anxious_songbird. It also fills the "Denial" square in my 2-1-24 card for the Valentines Bingo fest, and the "11. Rotten" square in the Pitch Prompts table on . This poem belongs to the series Eloquent Souls.
Warning: This poem contains intense and controversial topics. Highlight to read the more detailed warnings, some of which are spoilers. It includes toxic relationships, hearts being stupid, heartbreak, soulmates, soulmarks, rivalry, kismesissitude, imbalance, liminality, the Sacred Void, the Rite of Denial, soulmark removal, and other challenges. If these are sensitive issues for you, please consider your tastes and headspace before reading onward.
"The Relativity of Tragedy"
Love can be supple and supportive,
but it can also be toxic, even destructive,
when it starts to take the wrong tangent.
The head is smart but the heart is stupid,
and the soul can listen to either of them.
When the soul listens to the heart instead
of the head, that can be a disaster.
After all, the heart doesn't think.
The heart is stupid. It doesn't consider
the relativity of tragedy when it breaks.
Soulmates come together out of love,
out of need, out of many reasons ...
not all of them are necessarily good.
Sometimes what was bittersweet
becomes just bitter, the heart's fruit
turning rotten in the hand that holds it.
In the beginning, they might be rivals
driving each other to greater heights,
each making the other a better person,
even though they never see eye to eye.
It's a difficult balance to maintain,
though, and it easily falls apart.
When that happens, someone
must summon the courage
to do what has to be done.
They must seek out
the Sacred Void and
perform the Rite of Denial.
The Sacred Void is found
everywhere and nowhere.
It is all that lies between.
The supplicant must walk
the liminal places of the world,
cracks between time and space
where the Sacred Void seeps through.
It is not enough to ask or to offer,
in hopes of achieving freedom.
One must be sincere in the need
to unbind what the path has bound --
deeply, completely, and beyond all doubt.
One must crave the blessing of the Sacred Void
with all one's might, beseeching it to become
empty in heart and soul, for only then
can one be ready to receive anew.
Only then will the Mark fade,
erased as if it had never been,
a mistake corrected,
if never quite forgotten.
* * *
Notes:
The Relativity of Tragedy (unsaved, archived)
"Your heart doesn't think. Your heart is stupid. It doesn't consider the relativity of tragedy when it breaks."
-- Molly Ringwold
Relationship health is important. Understand the differences between functional and dysfunctional relationships. Check your relationship health with these questions.
Toxic relationships can cause a lot of problems. Know the signs of a toxic relationship. Follow the steps to leave and to heal from a toxic relationship.
Kismesissitude is one of the four quadrants of troll romance, also known as pitch romance. As such, it is a black romance (based on negative feelings) and a concupiscent romance (based on sexual feelings). It is possible for this kind of relationship to be healthy, but it isn't always (like any other kind). Explore some further thoughts about kismesissitude.
The Void appears in many traditions around the world. Consider the elements in Japanese lore as well as Ginnungagap and the blank rune Wyrd or Void in Norse lore. It is indeed possible to remove aspects of your life, self, heart, soul, etc. that no longer serve you by seeking the Void. As explained above, you must be completely certain that this is what you choose to do, or it won't work -- which is precisely why so few people can get it to work. Thoughts and feelings are far more often mixed than consistent. If you can muster the determination, however, it does work and it works on a lot of things that are commonly believed to be immutable. All universes have some sort of liminal spacetime options where the Void can be found -- only the details vary -- and the Void is capable of overwriting anything. Think of it like antimatter and matter, except that it won't annihilate your whole self. Alternatively you could view it as a compost heap: you put shit in and get soil out, nothing wasted. It's a kind of cosmic safety catch. Useful to know if if you have something abhorrent stuck to you.
Liminality involves the power of margins, uncertainty, and transformations. It's the mystical equivalent of Schrodinger's Cat. (Consider that magic and science exist on a spectrum, bent like a torc so the ends face each other; and in the gap between them is quantum mechanics. Liminality is about that sort of between-ness too.) It exists in times and places that are out of the ordinary. Explore some pictures of liminal spaces. Understand how to use the power of liminal spacetime for work or personal growth.
Warning: This poem contains intense and controversial topics. Highlight to read the more detailed warnings, some of which are spoilers. It includes toxic relationships, hearts being stupid, heartbreak, soulmates, soulmarks, rivalry, kismesissitude, imbalance, liminality, the Sacred Void, the Rite of Denial, soulmark removal, and other challenges. If these are sensitive issues for you, please consider your tastes and headspace before reading onward.
"The Relativity of Tragedy"
Love can be supple and supportive,
but it can also be toxic, even destructive,
when it starts to take the wrong tangent.
The head is smart but the heart is stupid,
and the soul can listen to either of them.
When the soul listens to the heart instead
of the head, that can be a disaster.
After all, the heart doesn't think.
The heart is stupid. It doesn't consider
the relativity of tragedy when it breaks.
Soulmates come together out of love,
out of need, out of many reasons ...
not all of them are necessarily good.
Sometimes what was bittersweet
becomes just bitter, the heart's fruit
turning rotten in the hand that holds it.
In the beginning, they might be rivals
driving each other to greater heights,
each making the other a better person,
even though they never see eye to eye.
It's a difficult balance to maintain,
though, and it easily falls apart.
When that happens, someone
must summon the courage
to do what has to be done.
They must seek out
the Sacred Void and
perform the Rite of Denial.
The Sacred Void is found
everywhere and nowhere.
It is all that lies between.
The supplicant must walk
the liminal places of the world,
cracks between time and space
where the Sacred Void seeps through.
It is not enough to ask or to offer,
in hopes of achieving freedom.
One must be sincere in the need
to unbind what the path has bound --
deeply, completely, and beyond all doubt.
One must crave the blessing of the Sacred Void
with all one's might, beseeching it to become
empty in heart and soul, for only then
can one be ready to receive anew.
Only then will the Mark fade,
erased as if it had never been,
a mistake corrected,
if never quite forgotten.
* * *
Notes:
The Relativity of Tragedy (unsaved, archived)
"Your heart doesn't think. Your heart is stupid. It doesn't consider the relativity of tragedy when it breaks."
-- Molly Ringwold
Relationship health is important. Understand the differences between functional and dysfunctional relationships. Check your relationship health with these questions.
Toxic relationships can cause a lot of problems. Know the signs of a toxic relationship. Follow the steps to leave and to heal from a toxic relationship.
Kismesissitude is one of the four quadrants of troll romance, also known as pitch romance. As such, it is a black romance (based on negative feelings) and a concupiscent romance (based on sexual feelings). It is possible for this kind of relationship to be healthy, but it isn't always (like any other kind). Explore some further thoughts about kismesissitude.
The Void appears in many traditions around the world. Consider the elements in Japanese lore as well as Ginnungagap and the blank rune Wyrd or Void in Norse lore. It is indeed possible to remove aspects of your life, self, heart, soul, etc. that no longer serve you by seeking the Void. As explained above, you must be completely certain that this is what you choose to do, or it won't work -- which is precisely why so few people can get it to work. Thoughts and feelings are far more often mixed than consistent. If you can muster the determination, however, it does work and it works on a lot of things that are commonly believed to be immutable. All universes have some sort of liminal spacetime options where the Void can be found -- only the details vary -- and the Void is capable of overwriting anything. Think of it like antimatter and matter, except that it won't annihilate your whole self. Alternatively you could view it as a compost heap: you put shit in and get soil out, nothing wasted. It's a kind of cosmic safety catch. Useful to know if if you have something abhorrent stuck to you.
Liminality involves the power of margins, uncertainty, and transformations. It's the mystical equivalent of Schrodinger's Cat. (Consider that magic and science exist on a spectrum, bent like a torc so the ends face each other; and in the gap between them is quantum mechanics. Liminality is about that sort of between-ness too.) It exists in times and places that are out of the ordinary. Explore some pictures of liminal spaces. Understand how to use the power of liminal spacetime for work or personal growth.