a random Milliways poetry moment

[blue_ajah]

(I found this over at breathe_poetry this morning, and I think it'll be immediately obvious why I thought of Milliways and brought it here to share with you.)

The things they don't tell you about heaven
by Jill Alexander Essbaum

Apples still taste like apples. Funny thing,
serpents taste like apples too, and kisses

and bread. In fact, it is all about apples,
this place. Everything you touch is smooth and red.

Your skin is comfortably heavy on your bones,
like that sleepy moment between being awake and falling

into a dream. The moon is a pendulum clock,
and light from the sun comes down in drops, as rain. And,

as any child will tell you, what we call rain is really tears,
the soul of God weeping over something great or small,

as anything with a soul will do from time to time.
Mostly, it is the apples, and a longing kind of sad.

They are firm as musculature. They smell like the flesh
and juice of unrequited love.

Comments

[indy-go.livejournal.com]

...

Oh, wow.

Thanks, Aspen.

[blue_ajah]

*beams*

Obviously, I've added that poem to my memories. I adore it muchly.

Re: "I think it'll be immediately obvious why I thought of Milliways"

[kimpire.livejournal.com]

I think you underestimate my complete inability to understand poetry of any sort.


*is completely, utterly, and totally clueless*

...apples?

[indy-go.livejournal.com]

One of the main themes of the Aziraphale/Crowley relationship has been apples. Apple tea, in particular. So in this particular poem, the connections between heaven and apples are especially resonant with the overall Plot of Milliways.

*points at apples/tea icon*

[kimpire.livejournal.com]

...

[blue_ajah]

(Deleted the earlier comment to reply to this one instead.)

*points upward, to above comment*

Well, basically -- what she said. ;) I can get even further into it, if you like, but try re-reading the poem with the Aziraphael/Crowley relationship in mind (apples as the symbolism of temptation, as well as apple tea as key for the angel, as well as the connection between Crowley and snakes, etc., and always remembering that before Milliways they'd spent six thousand years not publically acknowledging anything other than a careful Agreement) and see if that helps?

[indy-go.livejournal.com]

Yes, that's it. God bless Aspen's coherency!

[kimpire.livejournal.com]

Yes, I get it, I read the book (you can choose that to mean either Gaiman's book or The Book). But, still: "...".


The moon is pendulum clock?

[indy-go.livejournal.com]

Well, to me, that means the moon is the time-keeper, swinging across the sky over and over like the pendulum of a clock. Interesting with the A/C lense, of course, because of they're immortal, remaining despite the passage of time.

*peers out over masses of Milliwaysers*

Anybody else have an interpretation? This isn't my specialty.

[blue_ajah]

Mine either, but I'll second your timekeeping interpretation. I'll also note that the moon is associated with the passage of time in cycles that wax and wane and that are used to count out years in a variety of cultures, I think.

Also that it radiates a soft light of its own that is borrowed from the sun and so is both subdued, in a way, and yet very definitely present.

[kimpire.livejournal.com]

What I don't get is why, if vampires die from sunlight, they can stand out in the moonlight perfectly fine, if the moon's light ultimately comes from the sun.


Daniel appears to be gently steering the conversation away from poetry interpretation. Scrooge.

Also, when you look at a vampire in a mirror, why do his clothes disappear as well?

[blue_ajah]

*stares, and valiantly tries to answer anyway*

Because the moonlight is a pale reflection of the brighter light of the sun, and so does not have quite the same effect? The vampire is in and of itself a reflection of that which once was human, for that matter. Can a reflection harm a reflection?

The clothes disappear because they are being worn within the "field" that defines the vampire and are affected by its presence therefore.

[kimpire.livejournal.com]

Does that mean if people hug a vampire you couldn't see them in a mirror either?

[psychicsaphie.livejournal.com]

Daniel, your OTness and unceasing attempts to apply logic to everything amuse me. {hugs you and giggles}

As to the question, I think the field probably wouldn't be strong enough to extend to another person.

[stilljustandrew]

Moonlight, since it's a reflection, is polarized. Supernatural effects of light and similar, such as line-of-sight, can often be countered by polarizing the image. See also the classic methods of dealing with a Gorgon or a basilisk.

[tropes.livejournal.com]

I think that's very apt, and I would have very little to add. And interpretation is my specialty. :D

[indy-go.livejournal.com]

:">

[indy-go.livejournal.com]

...Apples? Eden? Temptation? Forbidden fruit? :D

[notsoyoung.livejournal.com]

That is just gorgeous.

Colour me jealous.

[blue_ajah]

And your icon is already tinged with green... ;)

[notsoyoung.livejournal.com]

I know, I just realised that.

Entirely unintentional, believe me.

*cough*

[anthy-rosebride.livejournal.com]

I was going to post this!

:O

You are psychic.

[blue_ajah]

*blinks* Do you follow that comm, too?

[fairest1.livejournal.com]

It's been linked in other places, too; I read it on Daegar's journal before I saw it here.

[anthy-rosebride.livejournal.com]

I do follow the comm, but not from my flist, which is where I found it -- like Snow-mun, I followed the link in daegaer's journal. *g*

[stilljustandrew]

...

Yes.

[never-mourned.livejournal.com]

So much love.

[blue_eyed_lord]

This. This is a thing of beauty.

Thanks for sharing!

::memories::

[tropes.livejournal.com]

GOLLY.

[alas_alas]

That... is just gorgeous.

[genarti]

...Oh.

Yes.

Wow.