A Spell for Forgetting a Father

A Spell for Forgetting a Father

Links to Song Spent for a 100W Bulb - Influence of family - Cycle of family and Generational Impact

“Father“ - Speechless, Magnitude

Lexical Fields

Light - Clarity of vision, hope, change

Epigraph:

He was whole years, Son

& even at this moment

he walks through your face

Terrance Hayes - ‘Mother to Son‘ (Hip Logic)

Immediately forgrounds/context of family relaytionships

“he walks through your face” - Assingon identity - Intertextuality (Structure)

“face” - Biological connection - Is Sam-La Rose saying you can’t forget him

“to” - Transmission

“Hip Logic” - Black American Literature

For this spell you will need candles, feathers

and your own strong head for heights.

“you will need candles, feathers” - Imperative - Direct address - Distance, Advise for someone else - Grammatical instructions, Instructions/recipe, Not possible, Depersonalises something deeply personal

“candles”, “feathers”, “heights“ - Allusions to Icarus and Daedus

Find a place in full view of the sun. Before dawn,

inscribe your father’s name on each candle. Light them //

“dawn” - New beginnings, Life, Limited length of time

“candle” - Ritual

Lexical Field of Light: “candle”, “Light them”

Enjambment - Connection between the two - Unbroken

while repeating your own name under your breath.

Wax each feather’s nib; lay them on the ground

“feather’s“ - Replacing/Transformation - Birds - Wings - Escape/Leave/Freedom

“feather’s nib” - Juxtaposition - Past weighed down by - Heavy and Light

to form a pair of wings. Your wings can be as ornate

or as simple as you wish. Keep the largest feather in hand.

“Your wings can be as ornate or as simple as you wish“ - Internal Deviation - Not Imperative - Choice = Own identity - Choosing own path

“ornate” - Layering of identities - Stripping back generational impact

“largest feather” - Symbolic of burden/father’s impact

As the sun’s light strengthens, lie back on the wings

meet your shoulders. Imagine them powerful, beating

“sun’s light strengthens“ - Sibilance - Soft/Sensual/Spiritual - Letting go, finding strength from elsewhere

“strengthens” - Dawn - Fusion, Burden being lifted

against air, lifting your full weight. Hold the largest feather above you so iyts shadow falls on your face; say

“its shadow“ - Legacy of father, connection

“falls” - Present, Moving forwards

as I release you

so you release me.

Internal Deviation - Syntactic Inversion, Change of the subject and the object, Shift in control → Acceptance, Two way release (Structure)

Let the feahter fall. When you are finished leave that feather on the ground. Bury the rest.

“feather” - freedom

“ground” - Reality/Safety/Earth/Nature - Can’t be changed - Signifies end

“Bury” - Death

“Bury the rest.” - Fragment, Simplicity of choice, closure/finality - Full stop - {ain, Memory of father, burden - Wings