Tag Archives: Robin Wood Tarot

This poem was prompted by The Emperor from the Robin Wood Tarot. (Click here to see the card.) I had to wrestle with this more than expected, and it’s still not really what I want it to be. But the point of NaPoWriMo is to write, not edit or perfect, so here’s today’s writing, warts and all.

Odin Looks Back

What was I ere I lost my eye? A chieftain, a proud ruler
with worlds at my feet, power and authority in my hands
like iron. I was fair to look upon, strong and confident
on my throne, the father of many sons.

But strength and confidence are not enough
to keep the Nine Worlds, so I traded perfect vision
of flesh for the more perfect vision of time and called
Thought and Memory to be my eyes.

No longer comely, I am grown wily with knowledge
of the living and the dead, though it will not save me. Still
I wander the worlds in search of anything that might see
my people through the great battle yet to come.

Welcome, global readers and poets!