"Those who have plenty want more
and so lose all they have."
The recent anon message shared on @spade-riddles account may have seemed like an anon inspired poem based on some of the wording it contained, but I believe this is a new anon introducing themselves as the golden goose and in the process they have revealed that they don't share the same musical background that we're used to...
The tale of 'the goose that laid the golden eggs' is one of many short stories from a collection known as the Aesop fables. This particular one is listed as number 87 on the Perry index, a number typically associated with 'Mary's song (oh my, my, my)' and Travis Kelce's jersey number. These fables are brief tales that primarily feature animals in their natural habitat and typically end with moral lessons that summarise the message they're trying to convey. Aesop fables have also proven to be timeless as their stories have contributed to many of the idioms we still use today. These include 'the boy who cried wolf', 'the lion and the mouse' and 'the tortoise and the hare'. The moral of 'the goose that laid the golden eggs' tale stems from the moment when the countryman grew tired of waiting for the goose to lay one golden egg a day, and ultimately his decision to obtain more lead to losing everything he once had.
"A man owned a goose that laid golden eggs and decided to kill it to obtain the source of gold. There wasn’t one. Too bad."
The new anon choosing to use the golden goose as their codename is a pertinent choice considering the ramifications this tale of greed has when applied to any industry that involve artists sharing their talents from a place of creativity. I'm sure many of us are aware of this occurring within the music industry due to Taylor's involvement with the New Romantics, but this is such a widespread topic of concern for anyone that steps into the realm of monetising their talent to make a living wage. This type of greed often leads to optimisation targets and decisions made in boardrooms overruling the natural ebb and flow cycles that contribute to producing items of value. I believe that what Taylor is building towards within her own personal journey is going to end with exposing her version of this fable. After all...
"This is why we can't have nice things, darlin'. Because you break them, I had to take them away. This is why we can't have nice things, honey (oh)."
The first thing I noticed when reading this poem was how cohesive and well thought out the rhyming scheme was. It contains 15 lines in total and has 14 "/" forward slash marks to delineate each pause in the poem. Not only does this number tie back to the song 'fifteen', but it's also the number of (mainstream) albums Taylor now owns since the masters sale was announced.
"Back then, I swore I was gonna marry him someday but I realised some bigger dreams of mine."
Despite the many poems from volcano anon, the recent poem from ginger anon is one of the only poems we've received that contains multiple stanzas. Taking a deeper look at the rhyming pattern used in this poem reveals that these anonymous poets are incredibly talented. Assigning each line with a letter that corresponds with each rhyming sound leads to the following pattern, which also ends with the initials the golden goose anon has chosen to use...
Ago, slow, mind, kind, misrepresent, informant, dormant, important, race, face, reward, garment, untold, introduce, goose.
Has exile ended with GGG -> GG?
Going, Going, Going anon -> Golden Goose anon
1. Present anon left a riddle a year ago
2. It sat unsolved (we were slow)
These first two lines are referencing previous anon messages, as well as the fable of the tortoise and the hare with the mention of slow movement over time. I'd recommend reading this post I wrote last year about the tortoise and the hare that was inspired by present anon and still rings true to this day.
"let us vainly recall the joys that take flight. she will crawl up out of the night— the volcano will soon rupture, whoever is to defame?"
Looking back at the rhyming scheme in present anon's most recent post from last year I started to wonder if we were supposed to replace the word defame with another that rhymed with rupture, in the same way that the "miss you" lyric feels off without 'her' being the rhyming word in 'the very first night'.
3. Clever wordplay, "What a mind"
4. I'm no songwriter but can respond in kind.
Scrabble is a form of wordplay we often associate with Taylor and "what a mind" is a lyric from 'sweet nothing'. This was the only song announced on the Midnights Mayhem with Me videos that had the order it was announced in line up with the album track order. And interestingly, the absence of the letter G in this song is stark in contrast with the only time it’s used is in the phrase "sweet nothings". Was this song originally written with this reference to the goose that lays the golden eggs in mind? If so, that’s an incredible form of storytelling. Viewing this song through the lens of the goose laying golden eggs adds so much more context to how the orbs and floating pearls in Taylor's iconography seem to be a visual representation of her music.
"You're in the kitchen hummin'. All you ever wanted from me was sweet nothin'. On the way home I wrote a poem. You said "what a mind"."
Although the fourth line about not being a songwriter seems to suggest that this anon isn't in the same field as Taylor, perhaps they're just in a different profession? After all, it would be a reasonable assumption to make that they could be a poet instead right?
5. I do not wish to misrepresent
6. I am in no way an informant.
Part of what makes writing poetry a skilful talent is the ability to share a message with the audience in a short and precise way while also finding rhyming words that contribute to the style of the poem. Calling our attention to what the golden goose anon is not leaves it up to us to consider what they are or who they’re choosing to be. How do they differ? What do they represent? An informant is typically someone who provides information in secret, so perhaps this person has public information for us to find instead?
7. The answer to the riddle is "DORMANT"
8. Why could that be important?
Dormant is a term that describes being in a state of inactivity or hibernation. For a volcano this is when it's not quite extinct but also not ready to erupt, however it still contains some magma stored within its chambers. Trees and plants such as rose bushes are also known to go dormant throughout the winter to conserve their resources when sunlight and warmth are at a yearly minimum. In terms of human behaviour this would be more akin to someone sitting on the sidelines waiting to be tagged back into a sports game, or in storytelling this inactivity is typically associated with the person you least expect being reintroduced as a catalyst during a last minute plot twist.
9. Is it a nod to a tweet about race?
10. Is it about a magazine face?
The line about race not having an 'a' in front of it highlights the difference between ethnicity, racing games and moving swiftly like a bird. My initial interpretation was that based on the Aesop fables connection that this could be a reference to the race between ‘the tortoise and the hare’, which is listed as number 226 on the Perry index. The moral of this tale is that...
"The race is not always to the swift."
This one could be confirmation bias but I believe the magazine face is a reference to the collage Truman was building in memory of his high school sweetheart Lauren/Sylvia. The act of dormancy was also an important strategy in Truman's grand plan as it meant that he kept the ace hidden up his sleeve concealed until the very last moment to ensure that his escape would be successful. Taylor's version of this picture is the slideshow that plays on a projector in the attic of the lover house and the tattoos on her face in the ‘fortnight’ music video.
11. If anon is inclined to give a reward
12. Name a date, place, song, or garment
13. Entwined in the story half untold.
These three lines are the exception that subvert the rhyming scheme that was previously established, which may imply that this was the underlying message hidden within the poem. It also seems like this anon is urging us to ask questions and consider new ideas, just like pumpkin anon has touched on in the past…
“All I can ask of you is this: To have an open mind, rolling new ideas over in your thoughts and keeping only what feels right. To hear what I say, even if you must hold it gently until things come more clearly into focus. And to have patience as, layer by painstaking layer, the picture is painted.”
My personal prediction for the answer to these questions is that Dakota Johnson is the key to understanding the story half untold. Or in other words, the missing piece that completes the collage magazine face that symbolises Taylor’s driving force to keep going. I was just finishing up writing a post about how Dakota and Kimber’s dress from the ‘anti-hero’ funeral scene are connected when the golden goose anon message was posted. It’s an incredibly long post, and I have no desire to share from a place that is intended to convince others or challenge their views, but you can read my thoughts on the topic here if you're open to it.
14. In case I return, may I self-introduce
15. You may call me the golden goose
Not only is this a nod towards the golden goose anon potentially returning with more messages, it's also implying that they may have plans to re-emerge with Taylor publicly too. After all, the golden goose fable is also a tale about having the freedom to share from a place of abundance and being driven by the desire to live authentically too.
"The best people in life are free (oh, oh, oh-oh, oh)"
"Free as these birds, light as whispers",
P.S. I ended up doing an unplanned voice reveal this week that was inspired by poetry. 🥀🌞
