What is this about?
This is a piece of abstract poetry, crafted with a visual depiction.The Edges of a Lively Miracle is the first video creation of a poem about the miracles of life. Read the poem first, and then watch the video after trying to imagine what the poem depicts. A multitude of images are depicted in the video, so a short analysis of the deeper meaning can be seen at the bottom of this page.
The Edges of a Lively Miracle
by Mariam H.
The Poem
Encounters of wind on the drifting cloud
Where rays of sun peak through the found
Soft cracks in the skies
And beauty blooms from soil down
Beneath the earth a hidden mound
Where rays of sun pull out the ground
But sunlight bursts
With flames alight
Light the darkness
Partial night
A gentle warmth to growth
That orb of light
A blinding sight
Captivates the universe
So many orbs of light
Scattered in the dark
Crashing voids
And rocks alight
Forced to land
And smoke arise
The flames of life
Devoured souls
The mud it floats Into the air
Particles adrift
And life exists
Soil the stem of life
It duplicates
Blood of kin
And thoughts arise
Reactions drive
The world alive
Dilates into our mind
And life is seen
The intricate path
Of blooms
The delicate wrath
Of storms
Upon the oceans
Upon the lands
Upon those very blooms
Perfect eruptions flow
Out of the ground
Listen to sound
And mimicking bounds
Reflecting our touch
The miracle of life,
The edge of it is what we know.
Plum blossoms on a tree.
The Visual Depiction
Analysis
The video depicts the outline of the things in this universe, and these are the “edges” of the miracle of life. It begins by emphasizing the clouds in the skies; these clouds are untouchable yet they form a barrier from the rays of the sun. The light shines through the cracks and leads to the blossoms, the beautiful flowers we see. The first flower is an apple blossom, symbolic of a long life. However, this contrasts with the symbolic meaning of the second flower seen, the plum blossom which commonly symbolizes the transitoriness of life. It is evident that long life is halted by its inevitable ending. There is a double transition of the two: life and death, as we sleep and wake. The third flower depicted is an apricot blossom, symbolic of health, prosperity and luck. We are lucky for the life we have. The fourth flower is the magnolia, which symbolizes love for nature. We are lucky, so we must love and appreciate the life we are given. Another transition is seen to the trees, wind, sky and sun. This is the beauty the poem is trying to capture.
The sun is the flaming orb depicted in the video alongside the stars in the sky, which are then shown next. Life would not exist without the warmth of the sun; when seen up close the flames of the sun are highlighted and the contrast between death and life is seen once again. Meteorites are seen falling down, but where did they originate from? The video encourages the viewer to think about this. And of course, upon impact smoke is seen, debris is seen, flames are seen. Another contrast between flames and water is seen after this impact. For every left, there is a right. Since water is put into the picture, a scene of mud can be depicted in the video as well. The biological marvel of life spurs after that scene. Can you think of why that is? Moving on, chemical reactions are visualized. This ends abruptly. Pause for a moment.
This is what we need to see the world, these biological reactions are our window to the world. The beauty of life is depicted once again through various images, and two other flowers are also depicted: poppies and cherry blossoms. Poppies are symbolic of sleep, peace and death. Cherry blossoms are symbolic of the fleeting nature of life. This recurring theme of contrast between life and death is present throughout the poem, just as it is in the video.
The video ends in a really abstract manner. Of course, water is seen. Water is the fountain of life, so of course it contributes to the lively miracle. Can you connect each part of the poem to the video? There are also many other details left out of the analysis which are open to your personal interpretation.
Bee on the flower of a plum blossom tree.