This is a poem in this series of 144 poems that I’m writing based on the dodeks, or twelfth parts, of the Zodiac signs. As far as I know, everybody else calls them dodekatemoria, but that’s a very complicated word to say, so I just call them dodeks.
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Leo of Libra: Campfire Firewood
25° Libra 00′ to 27° Libra 29′
It’s always more expensive than you think —
The camp staff sells wood to burn in their pits
for when you roast your s’mores or nurse your drink.
There’s kindling, and tinder, in little kits;
and heavier log wood for heat and light.
But it’s never quite what you desire —
it’s either too wet, and will moistly fight
its combustion; or, too dry, finds fire
a swift road to ash. One’s dead, and one’s quick —
with one only fitfully productive.
The other melts like ice cream on a stick,
with no middle ground as a corrective.
Either it burns slow, with steam and much smoke —
or swift as a pun, a split-second joke.
Image: Two campfires burn in neighboring camps at sundown — one with smoke and no light or heat; and one cheery and bright but almost over because it burned so fast.
Important Relationships
- Part of the Term of Saturn
- Part of Decan I of Libra (administrated by the Moon): The Blindfold and Sword
Colophon
This is a part of a series of poems based on the dodekatemoria, or twelfth parts, of the Zodiac signs. The dodekatemoria are sub-segments of the Zodiac, each representing two degrees thirty minutes (2° 30′) of arc; there are 144 dodeks (as I call them) in the full Zodiac, or twelve in each sign. Each dodek is supposed to be a recapitulation or miniature repetition or summary of its parent zodiac sign, as though it were filtered through the lens of the main sign.
The Sun crosses this distance of 2° 30′ in about two and a half days, making these dodeks cognate with the Moon, which crosses one sign of the Zodiac, or thirty degrees (30°) in about two and a half days. The Sun’s passage through a dodek thus mirrors the Moon’s passage through a sign, and squeezes a “mini-year” of passage through twelve signs into a single month.
Each series of dodeks begins at 0° 00′ of its parent sign with the same sign, and there are four dodeks in each sequence of 10° degrees. Each poem in this series will give a (my) name of the dodek, its relevant degrees, a sonnet describing it, a 1-2 sentence description of the dodek, and some other information.
