Poem of the Day: “Demon’s Whisper: Morningstar” by Paul Edward Costa

Songs of Eretz Poetry Review is pleased to present “Demon’s Whisper:  Morningstar” by Paul Edward Costa.  Mr. Costa has previously published poetry, fiction and non-fiction in:  Timber Journal, Yesteryear Fiction, Entropy, Thrice Fiction, Emerge Literary Journal, The J.J. Outre Review, Squawk Back, The Eunoia Review, and Diaspora Dialogues' webzine Shorthand.  He also has work forthcoming in The Bookends Review.

Costa’s areas of interest are:  illusion/reality, minimalism, surrealism, genre fiction, weird fiction, the grotesque, and the absurd.  He holds a Specialized Honors BA in History and a BA in Education from York University.  He is a writer and artist member at Night and Day Studios in Brampton, Canada and teaches high school English with the Peel District School Board.

Demon’s Whisper:  Morningstar

Paul Edward Costa

The Elfsage erased daydreams

with the truth of the trees’

                                 fluttering fingertips:

In the ancient lore

of the Morningstar Groves,

(where the tallest whitewood trees

                      reach high into the sky,

                      bending in blustery winds)

unseen

elusive sprites

move with swift elegance

in the upper regions of the whitewoods

                                           where silver leafed branches grow so thin

that feet frequently fail

in their attempted ascents

                             of the delicate branches,

                             swaying like angel breath’s

                                                      many stalks

in the most vertical nether regions of the western woods

                                                            high above

    cottages and decaying Elven mansions

                                                            high above

    the tired, wandering sentinels

    and the sapphire sparkling of the forest floor

    in a realm occupied only by birds

                                     and the thoughts of quarantined Elves

    gazing up

    out the windows of cottages with smoking chimneys

    picturing in their mind’s eye

             that where patterns

             of silver leafed branches run out

    and become thin fluttering fingertips,

           the sprites with sapphire eyes leap nimbly

                       from branch to branch

                      while they spin and sometimes kiss

                      like evasive thoughts far above

                      the dangerously seductive song

of the ground.

The last prayers of those perishing

                                        from the Sapphire Plague

land like condor vultures on the shoulders of the Sprites

      briefly,

     before slipping off into disregard and dissolution… 

Poet’s Notes:  This poem, written with oral recitation in mind, was first read live at an open mic/gallery showing at Night and Day Studios (http://www.nightanddaystudios.ca/) in Brampton, Ontario, Canada in spring 2015. "Demon's Whisper: Morningstar" is part of a larger mythology of work; two short stories, two novellas and one other poem further explore this world. With this piece I wanted to invoke the feeling of old narrative verse sagas, but with free verse and a contemporary fragmented quality (like scraps of writings from a lost civilization).

Editor’s Note:  Costa transports me into an amazing, ethereal, mystical world of elves and sprites and a sapphire plague.  I want to hear more of the lore of this world from the Elfsage.