Grail Island is a sequence of poems derived from and influenced by Grail myth. Guided by and dedicated to Jessie L. Weston (1850-1928) , the poems often draw from her From Ritual to Romance plus Emma Jung and Marie-Louise von Franz’s The Grail Legend and other Grail and myth literatures.
TO A DOMED MOORISH VESSEL
Witch’s cauldron, recycling caddy
The vessels that contain the human
In all its lowest, highest states
Or just for putting food on plates
Or punch or tea into our glass
Vessels contain all life and pass
Through, air, fire, water, earth
And who can say what it is worth?
Chalice of transformation, souls
Merge or are reborn anew
And is the midden just as true –
The rotten to fertility
The ritual of some alchemy?
The vessel of the mind or womb
Grail of riches, empty tomb
Sensual shape, a breast, a mosque
A tower, a rounded world, hat box
Lamp or cup or bowl or urn
Plate or philosophic stone
Womb-vagina, East-West portal
You see nothing there, or all
A pointed ringed lid to reveal
Some brewed or risen manna real
Patterned invite to the hand
For smooth, for rubbing, just to stand
Container of its history
Silent potential, holding space
Vessel of disgrace or grace
Burial urn or treasure trove
Stirred for spell or holding love
All too symbolic for a pot?
Sort of yes and sort of not
You contain the world or nought
Enclosed expansion of our thought