Turned towards heaven.
And man, disgusted with God,
Turned towards Eve,
Things looked like falling apart.
But Crow . . Crow
Crow nailed them together,
Nailing Heaven and earth together -
So man cried, but with God's voice.
And God bled, but with man's blood.
Then heaven and earth creaked at the joint
Which became gangrenous and stank -
A horror beyond redemption.
The agony did not diminish.
Man could not be man nor God God.
The agony
Grew.
Crow
Grinned
Crying: 'This is my Creation,'
Flying the black flag of himself.
from Crow by Ted Hughes
**~~**~~**~~**~~**~~**~~**~~
I love poetry. Dark, sensual words that build dark, sensual worlds.
Crow by Ted Hughes is my all time, most beloved book of poems. To understand Crow is to immerse yourself in the journey of Creation told by a completely different point of view.
Crow has lived in my heart for years. And one day I sat down to write a story about a young woman who had a preacher father who stole souls and Crow came to visit. Lodging in my head and story he took flight.
The Stone Crow tells the story of Sara, beginning on the day that her personal saviour, Tiny, a slow but angelic father figure dies. The god, Crow, appears and tells Sara that her real father is looking for her. Looking to reclaim the souls she stole from him. Looking to reclaim a promise of immortality from the dark god, Morningstar.
There is a triad of gods in my story: Yehuda who creates, Morningstar who destroys and Crow who walks between. All serve a purpose. Without dark, there can't be light. Without destruction, there can't be creation. And without balance, there would not be a world.
I loved writing this story for a number of reasons. Although it's darker than my usual fare, it was important to me to tell a story of violence and sexual abuse. I wanted to write the nightmare that Sara lived.
All my life I've wanted to tell the story of the angel in the corner. It's an important moment in Sara's life, a moment as her real father sexually abuses her where reality changed. It's a moment that happened to me at the same age as Sara in the same circumstances.
In Sara's world horrific things happen yet still there's the promise of light. Another important theme in my life. As profane and snarky and dirty as I am, my belief in Yehuda is strong and important.
And there lays the story of Sara. Living a life filled with violence and death, promised a glimpse of the light at the end of the world and living between discovering love and strength and her own pain and suffering.
A reviewer compared her story to that of Job's and it was a parallel that made me smile.
Sounds really interesting! And nice cover.
ReplyDeleteThis whole book is poetry in and of itself. Sometimes dark, sometimes painful, but always full of hope.
ReplyDeleteSara is a wonderful character and proves the adage 'you can't keep a good woman down'.
Some of your best stuff is of the dark variety, Lori. I guess that proves you've found your own balance. :-)
Good work, darlin'.