NESCITUR IGNESCITUR -Unknown It Burns

Seventeen years ago, September 11, 2001, was a cloudless, bright blue Tuesday morning. This year, it was a cloudy, humid Tuesday morning. Still, we remember.

In Patrick Jennings’s Pic and a Word Challenge #152 – Fire, his poem for this prompt evokes a warning from a toxic threat. The Tuesday Prompt at Go Dog Go Cafe, inspired by the events of 9/11, requested: “Write about a time that you were challenged by an outside force, and talk about what you did to overcome it? More importantly, how did it change your view of yourself and/or the world around you?” Lastly, I was introduced by Linda Lee Lyberg at Charmed Chaos to a poetry structure called the “reverse Nonet”. This is a poem whose syllable count is: 9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1-1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-9.

Read on for a poem inspired by past and current fiery events, written in reverse nonet. The picture is an oil painting by Dante Gabriel Rosetti depicting Pandora and her infamous box (he also wrote a sonnet to accompany this painting). In the painting, the words on the box state “Nescitur Ignescitur” meaning “unknown it burns”.

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Pandora’s Fire Box

or

NESCITUR IGNESCITUR (Unknown It Burns)

In tears I watched my world burning down

Like twin towers of faith and hope

Rumors about That Woman

Hatred for That Black Man

I am still held down

My disbelief

Progressing

Fearing

Fucked

Hurt

Anger

Loss of voice

World view shattered

Land of the “what now”

Home of the “not our job”

Reclaim the tiki torches

Be a beacon to light the way

Dried tears fuel the fire of freedom

(“Pandora”, Oil painting by Dante Gabriel Rosetti. Public Domain)

©️iido 2018