|
|
William
Radice's poem
| WORDS |
|
IMAGES |
|
DANCES |
| |
| I.
In the beginning |
A
mind is a circle,
Expanding as thoughts go round and round. |
|
Blackness |
The
lonely Creator
Was all mind, |
|
A
circle |
| Expanding
as his thoughts went round and round, |
| Expanding,
extending and then |
|
A
light |
| With
the fire of his energy |
| Heating
and swelling and then |
|
Separate
lights |
| With
pin-points here there dotting in the vast black spaces of his mind
– |
Stars,
planets, worlds, galaxies,
Forming in his thought then exploding into light,
The fire-dotted universe! |
|
Superimposition
of the iconography of Brahma – his four faces, his black antelope-skin
dress, his lotus seat, his chariot drawn by seven swans |
| All
of it contained in the circle of his mind. |
|
Lights
and fires swirling around |
| [Music
without words, expressing light and fire and the circle of the universe,
then quietening down again] |
| |
| II.
The Seven Sages |
Seven
Sages placed like pillars and arches,
Holding up the roof of the universe -
Visvamitra, Jamadagni, Bharadvaja, Gautama, Atri, Vasishtha, Kasyapa |
|
Pillars
and arches blending with the iconography of the Seven Sages – their
separate names and identities |
| Keeping
the balance of it |
| While |
| Round
their stability flames licked, |
|
Fires
licking and sparking and swirling |
| Sparks
flew |
| From
comets and meteorites swooping and swirling |
| But
never disturbing |
| Lights
and fires swirling around |
| The
Saptarishi, the Seven Sages peacefully dwelling in the north sky. |
|
The
seven stars of Ursa Major emerging strongly from space, other fires
fading in the distance |
| |
| III.
The Marriage of the Seven Sages with the Seven Krittikas |
| You,
Brahma, are alone, |
|
The
Seven Sages: their nobility and dignity |
| But
why should we be alone? |
| There
is heat and fire all around us, |
| Forming
the planets, |
| Driving
the life of the planets, |
| So
why should we be alone? |
| You,
Rishis, are alone, |
|
The
Seven Krittikas: their grace and beauty |
| But
why should we be alone? |
| There
was heat and fire in the making of us, |
| Moulding
our beauty, |
| Driving
our passion, |
| So
why should we be alone? |
| I,
Brahma, am alone, |
|
Four-faced
Brahma in his chariot drawn by seven swans |
| But
why should you be alone? |
| Rishis
and Krittikas, |
I
give you a mantra
To bring you together
To love one another:
A mantra of fire,
Fire of the ritual,
Fire of the sacrament,
|
|
Rishis
and Krittikas combining in the marriage ruitual |
|
Marriage-dance
to represent the Rishis and Krittikas walking round the sacred fire
seven times |
| Fire
of purity, |
| Fire
of desire, |
| Growing
and leaping and rising higher! |
| [Music
without words to represent the emergence of Agni from the sacred marriage
fire] |
| |
| IV.
Agni’s Desire |
Agni
am I,
God of fire,
But where have I come from?
Older than Brahma, |
|
Agni
with his two faces, three legs, seven tongues, seven rays of light,
etc., emerging from the fire of the marriage ritual |
| Once |
| Equal
to Surya the Sun |
| And
Indra the Thunderer |
| Yet |
| Now
I also am |
| The
energy of Brahma, |
| The
power of his mantra, |
| The
bond between Rishis and Krittikas, |
| Heat,
sacrifice, purity, |
| Marriage,
love, lust – |
| Who
or what am I? |
| One |
| Buttery
face for the sun, |
| Another
for the earth, |
| Three
legs, |
| Huge
ravenous stomach – |
| Where
or how do I stand? |
| Seven
tongues |
| Flitting,
flickering, |
| One
word this way, |
| Another
word that way, |
| What
do I mean? |
| Sharp
gold teeth, |
| Biting
and snapping, |
| Wild
black hair, |
| Lashing
and slapping, |
| Seven |
| Rays
of light from my body, |
|
Agni
roaming through the dark, star-studded sky |
| Each
one homing, |
| Seeking,
lusting – |
| How
can I not, |
| Being
so hot, |
| Grab
them, get them, |
|
The
beauty of the Krittikas |
| Wives
of the Saptarishi, |
| All |
| Seven, |
| One
for each of my tongues, |
| Each
of my arms, |
| Each |
| Ray
from my body – |
Oh!
See them
Twined so delightfully
Round the pillars of the Saptarishi!
Why can I not
Prise them apart? |
|
The
darkness of space transmuting into a forest; the Seven Sages transmuting
into trees; the Krittikas transmuting into creepers entwined round
the trees |
| Tall
trees the Rishis, |
| Creepers
the Krittikas, |
| Space
of the universe |
| Dark
as a forest – |
| Who
or where am I? |
| I
must get out of it, |
| Flee
from the lure of it! |
| Agni
am I, |
| Older
than Brahma, |
| Once |
| Equal
of Indra and Surya, |
| Fire
of sacrifice, |
| Fire
of purity |
| Fire
whose lust and desire |
| I
myself must burn, crush, devour! |
| [Music
without words expressing Agni’s frenzied struggle to master himself;
changing then to a languorous, sensuous rhythm as Svaha roams through
the forest] |
| |
| V.
Svaha |
You,
Brahma, are alone,
But why should I, Svaha, be alone?
So lovely am I,
So desirous am I, |
|
The
beauty of Svaha |
|
Svaha’s
dance of desire and seduction beginning and developing |
| So
desirable am I, |
| So
why |
| In
this dark forest |
| Should
I be alone? |
| A
light, a fire is approaching – |
| Whose? |
| It
moves nearer, |
| And
I too will move nearer |
| To
see who or what |
| Is
weaving in and out |
| Of
the dark trees. |
| Is
he blind? |
| Is
he not Agni? |
| Can
he not see |
| How
lovely, |
| How
desirous, |
| How
desirable I am – |
| [The
accompanying music changes to Agni’s rhythm again] |
| The
Krittikas, |
|
Agni
again: his confusion and torment |
| The
Krittikas, |
| Seven
fragrant creepers |
| Round
the trunks of the Rishis – |
|
The
Rishis as trees |
| My
seven tongues will slip between you, |
| My
seven arms will prise and pull you, |
|
The
Krittikas as creepers |
| The
seven rays from my body will heat you, melt you – |
| [Svaha’s
music again, beginning to |
| combine
wih Agni’s rhythm] |
Heat
me, seize me, melt me, please me –
I shall be what you want to see,
You shall see what you want me to be –
Each of the Krittikas, one by one,
Prise and peel them away from their husbands – |
|
Svaha
transmuting into the creeper-like Krittikas |
|
Her
dance becomes more passionate as she turns herself into the creeper-like
Krittikas. |
| I
am them, |
| The
dance expresses the union of Agni with six of the seven Krittikas
in turn, culminating in the birth of Skanda. |
|
|
|
They
are me, |
| Buttery
Agni, |
| Loving
secretly, |
| Twining
fierily, |
| Come
to me, come to me – |
|
At
the climax of the dance, images of the six Krittikas are flashed on
the screen in turn, with a relentless, pounding rhythm that implies
both orgasm and labour pains as Skanda is born. The sequence stops
suddenly with an image of six-headed Skanda (Karttikeya), the god
of war. |
| [Music
without words expressing the union of Agni with six of the seven Krittikas;
ending climactically with the birth of Skanda] |
| |
| VI.
War Unleashed |
| [This
section needs to have dramatically different music: maybe just anarchic
explosions of drums and percussion as images are flashed of war and
confusion and chaos. The words should be like explosions, with gaps
in between the lines.] |
|
|
|
Fragmented
dance postures: each one frozen in a moment of torment expressed facially
or with bodily contortions |
| BIRTH
OF THE WAR-GOD SKANDA! |
|
Bombing
of Baghdad |
| WAR
UNLEASHED EVERYWHERE |
| POISON
AND HATE IN THE AIR |
| EVERY
RULE IN THE UNIVERSE |
| TURNED
INTO HORRIBLE REVERSE |
| MALES
NOW FEMALE |
|
Suicide
bombers |
| FEMALES
MALE |
| CHILDREN
WITH GUNS |
|
African
child-soldiers |
| ADULTS
LIKE CHILDREN |
| BLOOD
BOMBS CHAOS |
| VIOLENCE
DIVISION DIVORCE |
EVEN
THE SAPTARISHI
CASTING THE KRITTIKAS
OUT! |
|
Images
of the Krittikas with lines slashed through them, cancelling them
out |
| SIX
OF THEM CRUELLY SUSPECTED |
| OF
HAVING FALSELY |
| CONCEIVED
AND CREATED |
| SIX-HEADED
SKANDA |
| GOD
OF WAR AND TERROR! |
|
Frozen
image of Skanda again |
| |
| VII.
Pain and Love in the Sky |
| [The
violence and chaos of the previous section gives way to grief-stricken
wails on the clarinet, subsiding to a quieter mood of desolate pathos] |
|
The
night sky |
You,
Brahma, are alone,
And we too are alone, |
|
Ursa
Major, six of the seven stars now alone |
| Divided
by war, |
| Our
wives now so far. |
| Cold
our tree-trunk bodies |
|
Tree-images |
| With
no flowering creepers around them; |
|
Pillar
images |
| Frail
our pillars and arches |
| With
no love to support them, |
| Alone
in the cold dark – |
| You,
Brahma, are alone, |
|
The
siz Pleiades |
| And
we too are alone, |
| Banished
by our husbands |
| Though
we did no wrong. |
| We
are none of us the mother |
| Of
Skanda. |
| His
mother was Svaha. |
| Selfish
Svaha, |
| Deceitful
Svaha. |
| O
Agni, Agni, |
| When
will you know who you are? |
| Fire
of devotion, |
| Fire
of the ritual, |
| Fire
of the sacrament, |
| Fire
of desire |
| That
so misled you, |
| So
seduced you, |
| That
now we are alone! |
| Our
husbands far! |
| Each
one of them, |
| Each
one of us |
| A
lonely, single star! |
| [Tender
music without words now leads into the love of Vasishtha and Arundhati] |
Arundhati,
Arundhati,
Always so true to me – |
|
Vasishtha:
his loyalty and love |
|
Arundhati’s
dance of devotion |
| I
know that you never |
| Deceived
me ever, |
| No
mother of Skanda |
| But
always my lover – |
| A
climbing creeper |
| Round
me, |
| Embracing
me, |
| Warming
the life in me, |
| Turning
my fire |
| Into
living leaves of desire – |
| The
pair of us here, |
| Double
stars, |
| Sharing
our rays of light. |
Vasishtha,
Vasishtha,
Always my husband and lover,
Others are alone, |
|
Arundhati:
tree and creeper image again, enclosed in a circle |
| But
not us – |
| We
share our light, |
| We
mingle our fire, |
| Fire
of the ritual, |
| Fire
of desire, |
| Too
warm, too true |
| For
Svaha to imitate – |
| My |
| Six
sisters she copied, |
| Deceitfully
attracted |
| Agni, |
| But
she couldn’t copy |
| Me
– |
We
are free,
Together still,
You and I, |
|
|
|
Reprise
of the marriage dance in Section III |
| Double
stars |
|
The
double stars Alcor and Mizar |
| In
the night sky. |
Copyright © William Radice |
|
