Christoast's Thoughts
Exciting things are coming up! If you haven’t seen already, I am a part of a fundraiser called ‘Pen2Paper’, helping marganlised youth access creative writing workhops!
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Today we breakdown ‘Deity’, the 8th poem of the Autumn, That Bastard poetry collection. ‘Deity’ ponders not ‘who made the universe’ but rather, ‘who made me’. This is poem is in the Autumn that is the construction of my beliefs, values and my spiritual identity.
You can find Deity here before moving on!
Before I delve further into what I am rambling about, I have recently signed up for a fundraiser where I will will be writing 6 poems over a writing filled weekend to help get young people who are disadvantaged get into creative writing workshops! Donations of $15 will get you a PDF version of the 6 poems as a thank you!
https://give.everydayhero.com/au/christoast
In my Author’s Comments section, I talk about how these religions have moulded and constructed my values. However, in here, to continue with the theme of different interpretations of the same poem (as mentioned in ‘There, We’re Whispers’), I am actually using the deities named as representations of events and figures in my life.
“Home was only around when he showed his radiant face.”
The allusion I reference, to the compliment of the face and the reference to Cronulla is my boyfriend. Where all the trains meet is allusion to Central/City stations where me and my boyfriend have tended to meet up at. I liken it to God (shout out to Ariana Grande who does something similar with ‘God is a woman’) as God has been a consistent influence in my life.
“I found Buddha once in the closet of my mind.”
This is a reference to developing calmness to override instinct in my daily interaction. I have become more inclined and reflective in daily interactions since, and many of the typical values expected of Buddhism I have grown to appreciate.
“My teeth were hot and I was sick of faded rainbows.”
The comment about Vishnu and Hinduism, is a comment on polytheism which is an allusion to me emerging on the gay scene and experiencing the community. The faded rainbows imagery metaphorically represents the transition of acceptance from straight to queer.
“In a field scorn of ignorance; that White powdered most.”
In honesty, I have never considered adopting any other spiritual belief apart from my current view point, which is kind of agnostic. I have critiqued how western society (‘White’) has been so exclusionary towards Islam. The broken encore is a reference to how I will try to remain an ally for religious freedom, but how western society has probably heard my arguments before and engaged in this debate numerous times.
Are there any lines that piqued your interest? Let me know on my social media or in the comments below!
Other poems of the collection:
Website Version with Author’s Comments Here
By Christos Floratos
I happened upon God once where the trains all meet.
Some untethered opera,
Some backwater near Cronulla.
Home was only around when he showed his radiant face.
I found Buddha once in the closest of my mind.
A certain harmony followed my shut eyes
Where charity chanced my unsullied temper.
A gleam into a thought that was most aqua, and of eucalypti.
I thought I saw Vishnu by the pond on my street, once.
Their gaze, of all of them, critiqued my bones.
My teeth were hot, and I was sick of faded rainbows.
But they all accepted… eventually. Smiled… forever.
I once pondered Allah,
In a field scorn of ignorance; that White powdered most.
Five pillars untouched yet unfound.
I had only a broken encore to share, nothing they hadn’t heard.
Once, I was one with the dream time.
A flurry red and black dots that
linked me from Dharug, Eora and Ku-ring-gai.
Some stories weren’t mine to keep, but mine to know.
I concluded, upon a time.
Sitting on dragonfly-ridden fields,
That a singularity was never enough to consider.
How these worlds birthed a supernova,
A conflux now limitless, enshrined in shine.
© Christos Floratos 2019
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