Collapse Doline #poetry #earthweal

Collapse doline
you draw me in, below, beneath
and in between
the underworld and over.

Persephone was crownéd queen
here in this realm
silent, unseen
beside her demon lover.

The fear of death evoked beneath
the sealing stone’s rock ceiling, 
the river with one raging breath
a wat’ry fate revealing.

Collapse doline, the world within
punctured my heart with knowing 
parallel worlds in other times
hidden by outward showing

the falsehoods of our daily lives
materially demanding
futile works with futile hands
wrought by misunderstanding 

our time on earth, our life-in-death
a misinterpretation 
we seek the sacred river’s breath
divine, as inspiration.

© Experimentsinfiction 2021, All Rights Reserved

Written for earthweal

Brendan’s challenge this week is to write of a voyage to the Otherworld. As he explains:

I have used the medium of Irish myth, but voyages to the Otherworld are universal. Journey there this week from inside your own story-cycle, and report on the news you find there.

As luck or fate would have it, I had the privelege of journeying to the Otherworld of Škocjanske Jame at the weekend, and initially I tried to write a narrative poem about the experience, inspired by Coleridge’s ‘Kubla Khan.’ However, this poem ended up ‘meandering with a mazy motion,’ so I began again, this time writing not the narrative of the trip but of the internal experience it evoked.

I may revise the Coleridge-inspired poem and put this up for the Open Link Weekend.

Škocjanske Jame had ritual significance as far back as the 12th Century BC, when they most likely were recognised as marking a boundary between the known world and the underworld. A ‘Collapse Doline’ is a sinkhole formed when the underground river collapses the rock ceiling above through the sheer power of erosion.

40 thoughts on “Collapse Doline #poetry #earthweal

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      1. Maybe you are right… it’s probably better down there .. than up here, where the old exploding bricks as flying, Left, Right, and Centre…

    1. ‘Dolina’ means ‘valley’ in Slovenian, so this geological term comes from a Slovenian word, as does ‘karst’ from the Slovenian ‘Kras’ region with its classic karst topography! I’ll stop now 😅

  1. Purgatories like this date back to the Paleolithic caves. St. Patrick’s purgatory at Lough Derg is a similar haunt where the veil is thin. You bring back from your own visit such a haunting, powerful image. We are renewed in that sacred river’s breath. Thanks for bringing it Ingrid – Brendan

  2. “the falsehoods of our daily lives
    materially demanding
    futile works with futile hands
    wrought by misunderstanding”

    These four lines speak to me. I love their lyrical flow and the follow-up stanza that brings the journey to a beautiful and resounding end!

  3. Your cave visit was both visually appealing and poetically inspiring. Lucky us! I imagine your mind was racing with ideas while walking through there.

  4. After reading your posts and marvelling at your photos over the weekend, I had an idea they would make their way into a poem, Ingrid, together with Greek myth! They look like an Otherworld. I love the movement in the opening lines, the pull in different directions, which creates a sensation of falling or collapse. I especially love the lines:
    ‘Collapse doline, the world within
    punctured my heart with knowing
    parallel worlds in other times
    hidden by outward showing’.

  5. So wonderful. I love the thought of those parallel worlds………we definitely misinterpreted what we are supposed to be doing here in this one. Wonderful writing!

  6. Wow and yes. What a beautiful place and a beautiful write – so full of riverbreath and wonder. Thank you for sharing this with us.

  7. a fine poem in the oral tradition – where we may return, should this digital world give way ~

  8. After reading about your tour, it’s understandable that it would inspire this:

    “The fear of death evoked beneath
    the sealing stone’s rock ceiling,
    the river with one raging breath
    a wat’ry fate revealing.”

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