These three were written in a few December days, 2022. The names take inspiration from the Major Arcana. I don't believe in divination or tarot, but they fit the idea. Originally I meant to write 22 of these, ending with Arcana number 0 or XXII: The Fool. It never ended up materialising, but these three are ones I still like.
Some comments on them: Poem I was written as a haiku: it isn't 5-7-5 mora, but the amount of information conveyed in 11 English syllables is roughly equivalent. Poem II was based on a line from a book I tried to write once: "Her memories were like little strands of flax, tied up and leading nowhere in particular." Poem IV was structed to emulate the urban buildings it talks about, and the penultimate line is meant to connote a feeling of fear and danger until the final release in the last line.
I - illness
a bloom of red;
a falling star:
the sun sets.
II - juno
the little threads of fate
show to the world of silk
what it is to be alive
and would that it were so simple
to sprout and grow and fall apart
and be cut down at the apex of
your life
IV - protection
there's something hidden just beyond the horizon
where the skyline grows
and the grey limbs of the earth sprout forth fingers
thrusting into the air
and the absent flecks of paint in the sky
shine over the din
invisible behind the smog and smoke
the next day i walk to the station and my bag is heavy
and i set it down next to the sign and walk away
and i become stars, and he becomes stars, and she's stars, and it and they and everyone
the entire world is stars, too