Stone Altar Against The Sea Comments

favorite lines so far: We saw their souls enter the stream of the gods' own river high above us. Even demon darkness could not occlude that vision. and ...., our prayers were best intoned in the soul's cavern.... - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - So perhaps even this catastrophe the gods needed to right some huge flaw in space, and having done so, they may be willing to do us good in return. ..................................yes, gods will do that sometimes! ================================================================= .....We heave red-splotched gray rocks, ...... ................................................................................splotched with blood? or lichen? or iron compound? I also especially liked “A fire glows, a fire grows, ………….. ‘ BUT I DON’T UNDERSTAND: “We heave red-splotched gray rocks, moss-covered granite, panels of slate, dull shining mica sheets. We bring all these heavy offerings to Hanrun, who tells us how to pile them to make a vast altar along the beach. A fire glows, a fire grows, a fire blazes.” …………………………………… ……………………………..it sounds like the rocks, granite, slate, and mica sheets [all of which some might call “rocks”] are used to build the altar, but WHAT is burning? ? ? What is the sacrifice? I THINK there was meant to be a sacrifice. Hmmm? Or is building the altar and buring some wood? In/on/near it satisfying enough for the gods? Bri :) and I wish there was a poet’s note of some sort. Is this a poetic version of some ‘foreign language poem’ or some prose someone else wrote? p.s. I don’t know what this refers to: “Shakespeare's Cymbeline” …………and I don’t feel like researching now. :)

By dawn the altar fire smolders, and the darkness is pierced by sunshafts. We gather our belongings, and begin our trek inland, to find a new home.... - - - -A story of enlightenment, - - - - - - -Loved reading your poem.

Enjoyed the story of these marooned mariners. The story reminds one that despite all the precautions taken, a ship can wreck at any time like the mighty Atlantic wrecked by an iceberg.(This is true of life too) On such moments, even an agnostic will raise his heart up to Heaven. No wonder the ship wrecked mariners who got miraculously saved from the giant waves, though badly cut and bruised set up an altar to appease the Gods either as a gesture of gratitude or as a precaution to allay their rage! The diction resembles that of a medieval story!