Anemochory: Item 4 of Tome of Stars

“Anemochory”, from the botanical term for wind-borne seed dispersal, is the fourth Item of “Tome of Stars.” It is a metaphor for a most desolate phase of emotional scattering, spiritual disorientation, and theological anguish. “Sporogenesis” was the quiet sealing of the self, but “Anemochory” unleashes fragile seeds and sprouts into a merciless world, flinging fragments of the poet outward in compulsion as much as hope. The section lacks any cohesive arc. It documents a mind unmoored, careening between damnation, spiritual nullification, and collapse. Even its dance opening, “Tillana”, spirals into frenzy and ruin.

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The “Item” structure of Tome of Stars is inspired from the recital program of a classical Indian dance called Bharatanatyam. The beloved of this collection was, among her many, many talents spanning arts, languages, and the sciences, a dancer of this tradition. Bharatanatyam became tightly associated with the Stargirl in the author’s mind, and when assembling this collection, he decided to attempt to structure it following the margam, the structured program for performances of this dance form (“margam” translated as “path” or “journey”). He did this in two ways. First, Tome of Stars was divided in six Items (how the different dances in the recital are typically called in English). These six sections are both thematic and chronological, spanning the beginning of the relationship (Item 1: Anthesis, the flowering) through its dissolution to the poet’s final unending, prolonged grief and emotional devotion (Item 6: Scripture). Within each item, the actual elements of a margam show up as individual poems titled by the item name. In these sonnets, the poet tries to meld traditional interpretations of the dance item with elements of their romance, separation, and/or aspects of the writer and/or the Stargirl. More can be found in the video linked in the Background section.