Marie Noight A’Shunning by John W. Sexton (with S. McCabe)
by Steven McCabe
Freckled with sparrows
Thrushes for tresses
The hedge-girl turns
The dial of the moon
Marie Noight A’Shunning
Through the rushes running
Call her name
When the night is long
Then she’ll shout
the stars down
John W. Sexton’s mind was poured into his body in 1958; since then his life has been dedicated to poetry.
How Marie Noight A’Shunning came to be is a transatlantic astral event (Canada, dreamtime, Ireland). I heard this name in my sleep and in my half-sleep wrote it down. I posted on Facebook about being puzzled; who she was, what she represented. When John W. saw her name he felt an immediate response. Translating these feelings into poetry. My images create a parallel narrative exploring Marie’s identity.
poemimage 
fabulous! totally! mystical and magical…the woman the poem the images…
Thank you Jenean for visiting and this thought, these words…
No hiding behind the skirts of this full moon…she is picking her favorites to paint her visions and sing her songs. I love what you guys cook up together.
Jana
Her songs via dreams. Beautiful image and idea. thank you so much Jana.
Full moon magic indeed…the confluence itself is poetry…that it became tangible as above is the true language of art, mystery made manifest. I am stunned by the beauty of your dance together…
Hi John, the idea of mystery made manifest as the true language of art is something I’m going to remind myself of again and again. Thank you.
Steven, the poem reminds me a little of something Tom Bombadil might sing about the Riverman’s daughter. The images, woven out like gold and straw, and a woman, Marie Noight A’Shunning, becoming a bird- a barn owl maybe. It is a rich partnership – the “confluence” as Clinock says.
I will look into Tom Bombadil and the Riverman’s Daughter. Thank you Jack. A barn owl. Very intriguing idea.
Beautiful – this reminds me of the books that made me fall for books as a child.
Now I’m thinking of it through such eyes. Thank you Richard.
I would answer more in depth to each of these inspiring messages but will have to be somewhat brief at this time but each one gives me an angle on the prism to contemplate. Thank you for this rich response. I’ll tell John W. he should take a look/see.
Excellent.
Thank you.
Thank you everyone for the really positive responses. I’m heading to the airport for Slovenia in a few short hours and will be back on Wednesday, so I’ll check in again later in the week and reply in more depth, but much of what has been said here resonates with where the poem came from. When Steven first mentioned the name Marie Noight A’Shunning I immediately saw her in my mind’s eye; her name not only a shun, but also a shine. Shining and shunning held each in an embrace, and the paradox and the sound of her name seemed to invoke both folksong and nursery rhyme. The words of the poem spilled very easily into my mind, and it was in the mind that I first composed it before committing anything to paper.
Thank you for this over/inner view John.
LOVE LOVE LOVE these!!!
Thank you Michelle!