Chimera
Chi
Chi or qi is a concept derived from Classical Chinese Philosophy. It can be expressed in English as ‘life force’, but also as ‘air’, ‘breath’ and ‘energy flow’. We might compare or contrast chi with Awen, a Celtic word which Bards use to mean inspiration - and which also relates to ‘breath’ and ‘flow’. Sometimes the Hindu notion of kundalini is referred to in relation to Chi. But kundalini does not translate to ‘air’ or ‘breath’ or ‘flow’. Kundalini is a coiled snake.
Me
Me, I have some ideas.
Me, I hope you understand.
Me, I look forward to hearing from you.
Me, I trust you are well.
Me, I want to select carefully.
Me, I have now settled on the theme.
Me, I am attaching a painting.
Me, I work in Property.
Me, I am a very proud and happy Mummy.
Me, I am active and rooted in Community.
Me, I managed to replace my day job of more than 33 years as a legal PA.
Me, I have been running my own business.
Me, I fully sacked my boss.
Me, I came to the UK in 1968.
Me, I was born in Mombasa in Kenya.
Me, I was brought up and still live.
Me, my family used to walk along Bamburi beach
every evening
after dinner.
Ra
Hold at least six mirrors at certain precise angles, from particular specified distances, point them at the moment of my birth, and you can see my secret:
( I’m a lion )
Array those same mirrors in relation to the lion, and you can see its secret:
( It’s the sun )
Turn the glasses just so to the sun, and you can see his secret:
( She’s the moon )
Find the moon’s exact reflection - see her secret:
( The ocean )
The ocean’s secret?
( Salt )
Salt’s secret?
(
-
This poem has a very unusual history. It was conceived in July last year, when the opportunity to commission a poem from me was offered as a raffle prize at the summer party of the Joint Council for the Welfare of Immigrants. The winner, Jagrati Bhatia [Jag], asked me to write on the theme of 'identity', and gave me plenty of information about her own identity to work with; including two facts that stood out - Jag told me that her astrological sun sign is Leo, and also that she is 'a snake' - according to the Chinese zodiac. It occurred to me that both the lion and the snake are embodied in the mythological Chimera, whose composite nature easily symbolises the idea of one person having many identities that Jag wanted me to explore in the poem.
The three sections of the poem address first the universality - across many cultures - of the idea of a universal life force ('Chi'); then some of Jag's own notions of identity - all of which are inspired by quotes from her actual emails to me ('Me'); and finally the more mysterious, even unknowable, aspects of identity which were hinted at by the allusions to the zodiacs ('Ra'). We are all the things we do in life, and we are also all our dreams, beliefs and feelings which cannot be seen. The mention of Bamburi beach is both a direct quote from Jag and relates back to the third aspect of the Chimera: 'Bamburi' means 'goat-people' in the local Bantu language.
The poem was exhibited as a partner to Jagrati's painting 'Not a Single Story' at the 60th annual exhibition of the Law Society's Art Group in January 2020.
Jag and I are planning to perform the piece together at this event in White City next week.
Chi or qi is a concept derived from Classical Chinese Philosophy. It can be expressed in English as ‘life force’, but also as ‘air’, ‘breath’ and ‘energy flow’. We might compare or contrast chi with Awen, a Celtic word which Bards use to mean inspiration - and which also relates to ‘breath’ and ‘flow’. Sometimes the Hindu notion of kundalini is referred to in relation to Chi. But kundalini does not translate to ‘air’ or ‘breath’ or ‘flow’. Kundalini is a coiled snake.
Me
Me, I have some ideas.
Me, I hope you understand.
Me, I look forward to hearing from you.
Me, I trust you are well.
Me, I want to select carefully.
Me, I have now settled on the theme.
Me, I am attaching a painting.
Me, I work in Property.
Me, I am a very proud and happy Mummy.
Me, I am active and rooted in Community.
Me, I managed to replace my day job of more than 33 years as a legal PA.
Me, I have been running my own business.
Me, I fully sacked my boss.
Me, I came to the UK in 1968.
Me, I was born in Mombasa in Kenya.
Me, I was brought up and still live.
Me, my family used to walk along Bamburi beach
every evening
after dinner.
Ra
Hold at least six mirrors at certain precise angles, from particular specified distances, point them at the moment of my birth, and you can see my secret:
( I’m a lion )
Array those same mirrors in relation to the lion, and you can see its secret:
( It’s the sun )
Turn the glasses just so to the sun, and you can see his secret:
( She’s the moon )
Find the moon’s exact reflection - see her secret:
( The ocean )
The ocean’s secret?
( Salt )
Salt’s secret?
(
-
This poem has a very unusual history. It was conceived in July last year, when the opportunity to commission a poem from me was offered as a raffle prize at the summer party of the Joint Council for the Welfare of Immigrants. The winner, Jagrati Bhatia [Jag], asked me to write on the theme of 'identity', and gave me plenty of information about her own identity to work with; including two facts that stood out - Jag told me that her astrological sun sign is Leo, and also that she is 'a snake' - according to the Chinese zodiac. It occurred to me that both the lion and the snake are embodied in the mythological Chimera, whose composite nature easily symbolises the idea of one person having many identities that Jag wanted me to explore in the poem.
The three sections of the poem address first the universality - across many cultures - of the idea of a universal life force ('Chi'); then some of Jag's own notions of identity - all of which are inspired by quotes from her actual emails to me ('Me'); and finally the more mysterious, even unknowable, aspects of identity which were hinted at by the allusions to the zodiacs ('Ra'). We are all the things we do in life, and we are also all our dreams, beliefs and feelings which cannot be seen. The mention of Bamburi beach is both a direct quote from Jag and relates back to the third aspect of the Chimera: 'Bamburi' means 'goat-people' in the local Bantu language.
The poem was exhibited as a partner to Jagrati's painting 'Not a Single Story' at the 60th annual exhibition of the Law Society's Art Group in January 2020.
Jag and I are planning to perform the piece together at this event in White City next week.
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