Stilettos tap out a siren's song over concrete seas
Sailing by moonlight this Autumn's eve. Taut
Sails dress the vessels bound for the Isle of Hedons, and
In their wake dances the wax of shattered wings.
[There is no indent to use on blogs I guess?]
_____A tribute must be paid to Circe:
_____She who loved men such that
_____There was but one who eluded
_____Her charm. It musn't happen again.
The intoxicating embrace proved too much for Icarus. There was no comfort to be found in his prison high in the cliffs. As he fell from the sky to the thunderous applause of breakers crashing against his former home, he couldn't help but smile. It was not his fathers instructions he recalled, but rather the warning Odysseus issued upon his return:
Drink not the wine, for it masks the
Scent of molted feathers and swine
Sacrificed for the thrill.
Drink not the wine, for it is laced
With Styx and Lethe and its
Taste cannot be distilled.
Drink not the wine, for it is pressed
from the flesh of youth and
fresh hearts they have killed.
The foul sea air that reeks of spilled blood and congealed fat left to rot in stone beds will not be easy to forget for those unfortunate enough to wake.
_____She who loved men such that
_____There was but one who eluded
_____Her charm. It musn't happen again.
The intoxicating embrace proved too much for Icarus. There was no comfort to be found in his prison high in the cliffs. As he fell from the sky to the thunderous applause of breakers crashing against his former home, he couldn't help but smile. It was not his fathers instructions he recalled, but rather the warning Odysseus issued upon his return:
Drink not the wine, for it masks the
Scent of molted feathers and swine
Sacrificed for the thrill.
Drink not the wine, for it is laced
With Styx and Lethe and its
Taste cannot be distilled.
Drink not the wine, for it is pressed
from the flesh of youth and
fresh hearts they have killed.
The foul sea air that reeks of spilled blood and congealed fat left to rot in stone beds will not be easy to forget for those unfortunate enough to wake.
Powerful. Striking. That ending stanza is very dark and it leaves me utterly speechless. Which means its working for me! You feel you're not done with this? I look forward to a further revision.
ReplyDeleteI guess I just don't know where to go with it, but thanks. I think it's going to be expanding the third stanza some but I don't know how.
ReplyDelete