Go Round was inspired by the introduction of the rotary quern and fast potter’s wheel to Britain in the Late Iron Age. I have since learned that the lathe also came around then, so I may need to add a verse! This poem was written for Atlantia Kingdom Arts and Sciences Festival in March of 2023, in response to a bardic competition call from Noble Thórvé Skáld Rikardsdottir to perform pieces that glorify the Arts and Sciences. It won two of six prize categories that day.
Go Round
Quiet pressure of the twist lends to rope its tensile strength
On spindles wielded well, short woolen staple becomes wound-up length
Wooden wheels roll beneath the farmer’s market cart
Marks of metalsmith curve round in trumpet spiral’s art
Steady spoon inside the cauldron stirs a vortex without cease
Grease and salt and seasoning mixed ready for the feast
Skirts about lithe dancers legs by turns are made to twirl
Ash-tree seedpods in the wind descend with flashing whirl
There’s a mystery in things that turn, revolve and spin
Essence of an eddy offering energy to win
Human hands can harness it, we work it to our will
Warming it with breath of beauty, winding with it sweet until
We fill the world with all we’ve wrought and sought: what we’ve hard-won
Design takes shape and out of naught but fluff, the cord is spun
Knowing all these wonders, would you ask for even more?
New revelations have begun, arrived from channel’s farther shore!
Skewered on an iron rod, familiar roasting piglet turns
But grain can now be ground to flour by the stone rotating quern
At potter’s wheel, palms smooth walls of pirouetting jars
As eternal round the pole-star in the skies revolve the stars
So go around the far side then, effort’s harvest pays returns!
Yearn for art, be keen to ken, each day there is yet more to learn.
Anauved de Mona
2023