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  • The Spell
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The Spell

Janette Ayachi

(After Sir William Fettes Douglas 1864 )
 
What secrets of the unseen are you trying to unravel 
pointing your wand, urging the dead to speak? 
 
You will find no torrent of tongues in the tombs 
even the moon’s ventriloquists will deceive you; 
 
the questions are fading in your ancient books, 
the answers are not encrypted in your shadow, 
 
there is no calculus embalmed on the corpses 
nor in the whispering ruffle of your cloak.
 
But you have fingered forgotten flesh, 
then rustled the grave worms to elevate your mind.
 
Is your science in sorcery or are you just a timid monk 
following the failings of your forefathers? 
 
In your cave under the watch of an elder 
amongst the treasure of your tribunals 
 
your spell is silenced by the spirits’ vendetta 
and the dagger you use will turn against you. 

Janette Ayachi

Tags:

Halloween

About this poem

The poem is inspired by the painting of the same name by Sir William Fettes Douglas, which resides in the collection of National Galleries Scotland (NGS). The painting is described in the NGS catalogue as a magician, “trying to raise the spirit of a dead man. The bare stone walls, with their strange carvings, are slightly disconcerting, as is the moonlight lighting up the room with a surreal intensity.”

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Janette Ayachib. 1982

Ayachi’s first full poetry collection, ‘Hand Over Mouth Music’ (Pavilion: Liverpool University Press), won the Saltire Poetry Book of the Year Literary Award 2019.
More about Janette Ayachi

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