Mystical minded Richard Mc Sweeney of the sacred isle of Éire (Ireland) is a serene practitioner of the ancient art of self-originating artistry – delighting in POETICALLY giving shape n’ form to the integrity of the INDIVIDUAL voice. His is a world where the philosophical and the literary are not two but one and the same; where the poet is at home with composing in prose.
He greatly enjoys cultural bridge building. In particular his works {Bridging Al-Serenities}, {Generations Reaching}, {A Jesus of Nazareth}, n’ {Myriam of Lebanon} have been very much influenced by the eastern Mediterranean worlds.
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The following excerpts are taken from his most recent work {Bridging Al-Serenities}
Note: the name ‘Jade’ refers to the beautiful Mediterranean Sea.
In the Guidance of Imagination the Truth, the Goodness.
Narrated:
Her Majesty told this story.
“I once heard a traveller of the ways speak words that were truly wondrous. He told me that deep into the desert way off to the east there dwells a woman; a Bedouin woman who is pure imagination. Her skin is as dark as night, and the whites of her eyes as the fresh snows on Mount Dignified while her long wavy hair is as richly amber and auburn hued as a sunset in the Jade Sea. She is of a gentleness like that unto a few days old gazelle calf. She doesn’t eat any of the food that we would normally eat or drink of the oases pools. Rather she sips of the early morning dews, and eats of the first rays of sun to appear above the horizon. In a moment, she is in the sky enjoying floating along with the clouds, and rolling carefreely with the winds. And there are times when she ascends so high into the blueness of the sky that she disappears out of our view, and it can be days again before she descends into our view. Wherever she goes she brings wholesomeness and joy; listening with attentiveness, and speaking with wisdom profound.”
Sublime Emblem 363
In the Guidance of Imagination the Truth, the Goodness.
Narrated:
Sitting on the Jade seashore, and with watching the sun immerse itself in the welcoming waters, Her Majesty said to all those sitting there about,
“I’m remembering of a certain late afternoon while sojourning in Will Be of Great Significance that with watching the sun set into the coral rich Ruby that I had a vision of a man emerging out of the setting sun, and walking towards me on the rippling golden pathway.
As he was walking towards me on the rippling golden pathway he had his arms outstretched on either side, and upon the palm of each hand had come to alight a brightly shinning star from out of the twilighting heavens. And with the sun having immersed into the welcoming waters he had already reached the shore. He who was about my own age stood there smiling at me with his fragrant shoulder length wavy hair being fanned by a gentle breeze. And when I had asked him why two stars were there upon his palms, he replied in a lovely mellifluous voice that they represented two wondrous halves of a book. The first half would contain stories of wisdom, beauty, and love from a faraway isle of the wild majestic North Atealtic Ocean, and that the second half would contain interpretations of my own thoughts spoken on a wide variety of wondrous issues. And that each half of the book would be as complementary as the two wings of a butterfly; one being as harmoniously important as the other and to the other, and as profound and as beautiful in style of expression as one to the other. And upon that gracious shore, I knew him to be a sublime visitor from ages and ages yet to come.”
Sublime Emblem 378
In the Guidance of Imagination the Truth, the Goodness.
Narrated:
Of an early eve sitting on the southern most promontory of the Abundant Mountains, having the Isle of Lily in silhouette over the ways, and enjoying eating delicious pomegranates.
And a bright young studier of families named Ancestral Place; a happy tracer of their lineages and history asked Her Majesty.
“Your Majesty where is your ancestral place; the ancestral place of your Royal House?”
“See there in yon southeastern heavens rising the Ebla Above Constellation. Well that like my homeland here is also the heavenly image of my ancestral place; the ancestral place of my House.
In the wild North Atealtic Ocean there is a beautiful isle that is also thus so shaped.
And this beautiful isle is my ancestral place. The Royal Archives in the Great Library in the Royal Palace at Ebla record how my ancient ancestors, though few in number did migrate southwards in boats to northern Holmoakia, and from there they journeyed overland to the port of Enamoured Beauty from where in seven boats they sailed eastwards across the Jade. It’s recorded that they made only three stops along the way, and that was in Honey Bay of the Isle of Blossoms, Agreeoumeli Bay of the Isle of Hills, and Turtleopi Bay of the Isle of Lily.
And with the blessings of the waters, the winds, and the sky; with the coastline of the Isle of Lily pointing them the way they reached the Mellifluous River Estuary.
From there they set off on foot with keeping the river to their south and then to their west until they found themselves departing from its banks and journeying eastwards to the area where nowadays is located the beautiful city of Ebla. And it was there that they did happily settle.”
“Your Majesty why did your ancestors leave the beautiful isle in the first place?”
“A beautiful lady appeared to them in a vision, and told them to set out for a place that she would make known to them in a dream.”
“Who was the beautiful lady, Your Majesty?”
“According to the records, she was called Lady Ave Éire. And it’s no coincidence that the name ‘Ebla’ and the name ‘Éire’ both mean ‘serene’ or ‘serenity’- serene as in the beauty of limestone, and serene as in the beauty of grass, thus giving us the delightful poetic motto of my House, namely ‘The butterfly wings of Lady Ave Serene we be’.
“Your Majesty thus by ancestry, and descent you have been given to dwelling in places of serenity. Truly far reaching and wondrous are the imagining ways of Imagination.”
“Yes; truly great and marvellous indeed are the imagining ways of Imagination.”
Reflective silence.
“The records also make special mention that when my ancestors were travelling overland from northern Holmoakia to the port of Enamoured Beauty, one from among their young women fell in love on the banks of the River Lilyturia with a youthful village poet; a poet of a village having the word moon in its name. And with the blessings of her own people, and the people of the village, the beloved pair were married, and that she had happily stayed behind in that village. For some reason our ancient scribes made mention of this particular marriage, and the place in which it had taken place.”
“Your Majesty do the records name your first ancestors?”
“Yes, the records which date back over three thousand years to the time of the arrival of that small group in the beloved place that we now call the Royal City of Ebla, clearly tell that our first mother ancestor was called Heavens of Night, and our first father ancestor Sky of Day. And it mentions that they were both native to the isle, having been born there and raised there, and with each having lineages on the isle dating back for hundreds of years. And, my House in eloquent continuity, as did our first ancestors, do look at all things in the very same noble way; knowing ourselves to be a people of the Great Book, and everything thereof eternally including we to be of the marvellous imaginings of Imagination.”
Reflective silence.
“Have you ever visited your beautiful ancestral isle, Your Majesty?”
“Throughout my life, I seemed to have visited it on a number of occasions, but this only in my dreams. And oft in my waking hours too, I do believe I am with seeing in visions peoples of the isle.”
And Her Majesty did invite the bright young studier of families; the happy tracer of their lineages and history to come apprentice in the Great Library at Ebla. And with exceeding gratitude, honour, and joy he accepted the invitation.
For other contributions by Richard Mc Sweeney, please follow the links below:
Poetry in this post: © Richard Mc Sweeney
Published with the permission of Richard Mc Sweeney