Inspired by the Phoenix

By Raja's Insight on October 16, 2016 • ( 1 )

Photo Credit: Pixabay.com

As a publisher, and reader of hundreds of poems and manuscripts I have come to notice patterns of titles used by writers.

Of course there are the obvious love poems, like “Love Is”, nature oriented poems, spiritual poems, etc. Many of us find our inspiration in the same themes and topics.

Recently, I have come to notice that I have published several poems about the Phoenix. I began to wonder what the correlation was for each writer, why did they choose the phoenix, and what did it mean to them?

First I wanted to understand the phoenix more myself. I love that we are blessed with wonderful technology and I can simply just go to my computer and type “Phoenix” in my search engine and find a wealth of information.

According to Wikipedia I learned: In Greek mythology, a phoenix is a long-lived bird that is cyclically regenerated or reborn. Associated with the Sun, a phoenix obtains new life by arising from the ashes of its predecessor. According to some sources, the phoenix dies in a show of flames and combustion, although there are other sources that claim that the legendary bird dies and simply decomposes before being born again.

Author Sarah Lamar King describes the mythology of the phoenix perfectly in the excerpt Phoenix from her book My North Star Misled Me published by Creative Talents Unleashed.

Phoenix

I will rise up, a Phoenix to a flame

Born to death, a shadows game,

Bound to a Cimmerian fate,

No recourse and no escape.

Succumb to my internal quarrels,

Severed where I lay,

This infernal cover of darkness,

My sanctum, my home,

It became.

Author Adam Levon Brown also found himself inspired by the Phoenix and writes about the rise from the ashes in his poem Star Stuff from his book titled Musings Of A Mad Man.

Star Stuff

Sitting on the ashes of my former self,

I am the phoenix risen from the flames of self-destruction.

The avenger of all the mistakes I’ve made.

Determination is all I possess.

A heart full of pain and a soul emptied,

I look up to the stars and declare my independence.

Nothing will hold me back from attaining my goals.

Desire is the fire that burns within me.

My dreams are hues on the pallet of my existence.

I will not endure another minute of listless survival.

I will shine through the darkness like the supernova

that I am,

collapsing into myself again and again

just to prove myself worthy.

There will be no roses,

no angels singing,

just the sound of my voice,

as I soar above the clouds and into eternal light

Photo Credit: Pixabay.com

I was inspired by these poets to delve a little deeper and read more information about this amazing bird. I decided to research the meaning of the phoenix. I simply typed “Phoenix meaning and symbolism” into my search engine. What would it mean to dream about the phoenix and why are so many writers inspired to write about the phoenix, I thought to myself?

According to SunSigns.org the mythical phoenix animal totem is the keeper of the fire in all of creation. It represents transformation, death, and rebirth in its fire. Its associated traits are Rebirth, Transformation, Immortal, Power, Coherent, Imaginative, Protective, Balanced, Hopeful.

Perhaps it was the traits of Transformation and Power that inspired poet Vallery Townsend to scribe her poem The Phoenix in the anthology Divided Lines – A Poet’s Stance. Or the trait Hopeful that inspired Author Isaiah Barber to title his entire collection of poetry Path To Serenity – Phoenix.

It would seem that each writer tried to convey strength and renewal, and to remind us of the energy needed to keep us fighting the good fight. No matter the trials and tribulations we experience in our lives, the phoenix symbolizes the ability to endure.

Photo Credit: Pixabay.com

Have you written about the Phoenix? Are you inspired to write about this mythical creature? Send us your poem, along with a short bio and photo to be considered for a weekend poetry feature!

mailto:CTUPoetry@yahoo.com

Sources:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phoenix_(mythology)https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phoenix_(mythology)

https://creativetalentsunleashed.com/2016/05/02/phoenix-author-sarah-lamar-king/

https://creativetalentsunleashed.com/2015/07/30/star-stuff/

http://www.sunsigns.org/phoenix-animal-totem-symbolic-meanings/

https://creativetalentsunleashed.com/2015/09/26/the-phoenix/

https://creativetalentsunleashed.com/2014/09/17/introducing-author-isaiah-barber-path-to-serenity/

About the Author

Ms. Raja Williams, also known as Raja’s Insight, fiercely arrived on the writer’s scene in 2012 after being awakened by a prolific poet, lyricist, songwriter, and music producer whom encouraged her to write daily. After nearly twenty years of pent up words only floating in her own head she began to allow the words to spill out onto empty pages and find way to readers needing encouraging words. Raja entered one of her poems into a poetry contest in 2013 and won a full publishing contract and released her first book “The Journey Along The Way” in January of 2014 with Inner Child Press.

Through the publishing process and having connected with so many amazing writers and poets from around the world Raja was moved to create a community for writers known as

“Creative Talents Unleashed”

Having spent her entire working career in teaching and mentoring positions Raja found herself mentoring writers and walking them through the entire publishing process. Soon Creative Talents Unleashed moved from a writer’s community to a publishing group. Within the publishing group Raja founded a program called the “Starving Artist Fund” to assist writers in having the necessary tools to become published authors at little to no financial cost.

Raja is living her life’s purpose, and enjoys assisting writers from all around the world give birth and share their creative talents with the world through publishing.