Before reading this, go to Anvil and read the poem itself first.
Hush, the dark forest winds blink
observing their own rituals
undisturbed by Anvil.
This sets the scene. The wind stops for a moment and this pause opens a space for the story about Anvil. The natural world itself pauses to hear. Still, this passage hints that the natural world is too busy to care about Anvil. The winds have their own ‘rituals’ - forces that are controlling them - and Anvil has no part in that. The blink is a subtle Nietzsche reference.
In the stillness
between their push and pull
he remains sure.
Anvil remains sure that he hasn’t caused any improper influence to the surrounding nature, out of respect, or shyness, perhaps. The ‘push and pull’ is a hint at how willing he is for nature, or other people, to push him around, instead of standing up for himself.
Obscured by ocean waves
behind the human veil
in the space between words
his yearning puzzles me.
Anvil sends out signals into the world during a conversation, that shows he yearns for something. He is framed here as a deep thinker - the ‘human veil’ is his outward appearance, the ‘ocean waves’ point to something deeper in his thoughts - the ‘space between words’ suggests that he vocalizes carefully, and perhaps listens intently. He puzzles his friend, who isn’t a romantic.
Love for the cosmos, he says.
I remain unsure.
Anvil brushes off his friend’s confusion over his yearning, saying he just loves the world. Perhaps he doesn’t have the ability to articulate what he really feels beyond this. His friend is unsure and doesn’t believe him right away.
Along a stretch of coastline
he moors his mind, and sails.
Along the steel sky-scraping girders
he beams, scaling the ribs.
What he moors is his mind, not a boat. He leaves the problems in his head aside so that he can go sail and enjoy it. The steel skyscraper lines juxtapose the open ocean, and show how much Anvil enjoys his time, beaming as he explores a city landscape by ‘scaling the ribs’ of tall buildings - a Thaddeus reference.
Along the path of wisdom
amidst the bellows' roll clouds
he forges on the iron
himself.
Anvil is forging himself through his experiences, including seeking out wisdom. Wikipedia: “Bellows”, Wikipedia: “Roll Clouds”. Roll clouds generally signal distress, as Anvil feels stress undergoing his development.
Refinement of shape
development of spirit
his respect for the sanctity
of all souls, his love for the man
propels him,
Anvil develops a unique shape (physically), spirit (metaphysically) and ’love for the man’ (socially) through his experiences. He reveres the human underneath its primitive organic form - his ‘sanctity for their souls’ invigorates him to be respectful and kind.
into the depths of his senses
he falls into anger, primordial
yet he burns brighter
as he fights to control
his passions.
His strong emotions causes him distress. He can’t love everyone and struggles in self-doubt. He becomes angry at the state of himself and his primal/primordial human core overwhelms him with emotions. Despite this, his fighting to control his emotions about how much he ’loves the man’, develops him - he ‘burns brighter’ as he learns over time to focus this energy.
A soul flaming
he knows not of space or time
only their great backdrop
which prevails.
Anvil is not worried about the setting of his life or the small dramas, he is worried about an ethereal spiritual long term commitment, the ‘great backdrop’ of life, perhaps the path to his own self-actualization. This is a hint at karma and rebirth.
The waves sailed
the heights climbed
his refinement strengthened
from the heat of the anvil,
the dew of his forest evaporates
His experiences, albeit traumatic ontop an anvil, shape him and heat up his world to change him. The evaporating dew is a reference to the first few lines that start in the forest. In a sense, the forest has been waiting for him to arrive so that he can find that he is not separate from it. A hint at non-duality.
revealing his true form, resilient,
sizzling atop green leaves, buoyant
in wispy vigor
honored by the bright anvil itself
energized by the space between it
and the hammer he holds,
stillness.
His true form is aqueous, liquid and in a sense, immutable because the mist from the dew will become dew again. He now feels honored to have the opportunity to rise from the heat of the bright anvil (the sun). This is a hint that he finds a way to revere even the scorching parts of his development. He is invigorated by his adaptability and resilience, transmutes his traumas into energy, and has found his true nature.
Through this, he recognizes that he can hold his own hammer. The space in between the anvil and the hammer hints at the choices that the blacksmith takes, his emotions and intentions. In this sense, the blacksmith is Anvil’s god, or perhaps his ego. He is at the mercy of the hammer, until Anvil realizes that he can use the hammer to mold himself how he wants.
This play with physical spaces ‘in between’ also is a hint back at the ‘space between words’, where choices are made internally to influence the external world.
Forged by Anvil
battered by the heat and hammer
he rights his ship outwards
into the abyss, fearless in tonnage
his own destiny
his engine of certainty
prevailing.
Anvil has forged himself. He took the hammer and shaped himself into what he wants to be. He ‘rights his ship’ (Four Noble Truths hint) onto a path away from his suffering. He is ‘fearless in tonnage’ - a reference to the baggage of trauma he has after the gritty anvil experience where he was confused about his true nature - he has weight in the world and can withstand major waves on the ocean. With this confusion gone (another Four Noble Truths hint), he will ‘prevail’ - a reference to the ‘backdrop’ of space and time that prevails indefinitely.
Enchanted in opportunity
to engage his senses
captivated in yearning
for the risk of
loving it all
he needs me not
to believe him.
Anvil has an unmatched sense of vitality from his self-agency, he wants to have the opportunity to love everything, and this signals his greatest achievement - recognizing the beauty of the world, being captivated by it and perhaps focusing his deep emotions properly (it is still a risk for him!). He is on the path to self-actualization, and perhaps rebirth.
He isn’t worried about others opinions or their belief (or lack thereof) in him, as mentioned earlier ‘I remain unsure’. He is confident in himself and faces the world head-on.
This poem expresses a number of my emotions around life and my experiences in my developmental high school/college years, mixes in Buddhist fundamentals, nature, and shyness/emotional depth. I felt connected to nature and people’s emotions, but I struggled to access it all. I felt battered around by the grind of high school and lost my mind, becoming angry at it. The world never paused for me, because that’s not how things work, but it sure did blink at me a few times when I looked directly at it.
I came back around to work at schools and focus my emotions and their intensity into being a great teacher. Yet, I fought myself on this decision even though I knew that I hated my initial trajectory into the workforce, which was a byproduct of my confusion on the path into college. I try to be like Anvil now. I’ve forged my own path, and try hard to be confident and find the stillness.
The poem isn’t supposed to be about me in particular. It’s a story of development, confidence, decisions, emotions and human authenticity.