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Persephone and the Dragon
Her hair was ebonne darkness but it dazzled like Arcturus. Her eyes were wells of soulfull longing and were too much for man to gaze. Her countenance shown like one thousand suns and she smelled of roses and lavender. When she passed your mind was swept away. A simple thought of her would visit joy on gloomy sorrow. And when she came your way—you’d pray she’d stay until the morrow.
Although simple to see the reasons why-it is difficult to explain the hold she had on me. And the poetry that is Persephone weaves in and out of the dragon’s main as the tale is told. And as it reaches culmination—her hold on me enfolds. She means the world and everything in it—but that doesn’t seem enough. So if we add the universe that almost sums it up. Her voice is like the waves that crash softly on the sand. And her silver lips draw you close like the moon pulling on the water’s surface. The wind touches her body and gently caresses each curve before it continues on its course. Can you imagine her glory and her becoming?
The serpent of yesteryear scratches the onyx stone and sends sparks to and fro in time with the swishing of its tail. Its tongue flicks quickly between its teeth as it tastes the air. Puffs of noxious gas escape its nostrils with each heavy breath. And all the while the stirred aroma has the taste of death. Each step draws a shudder from the heavy earth and if you watch the trembling flowers you can foretell the beast’s great and mighty girth. And it causes you to tremble. Tremble with a freight so primordial you cannot yield a scream, but only hope with clench-ed jaw this somehow is a dream.
The beast seems forlorn if you match its’ gaze and you can tell from scar and wound the number, of its’ days. The mighty dragon is adored—but not by man or beast or any creature of the realm. But by the Gods who share with it the origin of the land. The foul beast seeks to and fro whom it may devour and if you tempt to try the beast, you will see your final hour. Can you imagine her glory and her becoming?
Her walk reminded many of the sway of grain, as in the amber fields we played upon when we were young in the land. Her laugh played out across the scape with the timbre of the flute, and mesmerized we all became as she sung us summer tunes. My Persephone was magnificent and majestic to behold- she was the source of joy and hope and reason for story told. Her hair moved like a dandelion given by the wind a start- never quite together and never quite apart. Watching her is like watching children playing in a stream, where the brook is bubbling over rock and mists their faces to keep them cool.
She listens like you are the only sound ever to be heard and her face makes you feel she wants to understand all your words. One against the world it seems but infinite by her side. I long to be with Persephone, does she long to be with me? She knows the time is coming soon where our fates intertwine—where the glory of the maiden fair becomes a child of mine. And when we speak of these lofty concepts, in earnest be they true-there is no purer love to be had-then the love from me to her. Can you imagine her glory and her becoming?
A mighty roar drives the raven from the tree, the beast is on the prowl and other creatures flee. The power from the broken solitude is like a gaping wound cut new. The beast thrashes through brush and thicket, driving closer and closer to you. You can feel death standing the hairs on your neck. As your pace quickens you know you cannot escape. The beast has come for you and you will succumb to your final fate. Crash! The stony ground crumbles beneath each mighty gait of the beast. The dragon senses victory and acceptance of your fate. Determination flees your limbs and you feel the cracking of your bones as the teeth of trepidation meet, ending the flicker of your soul. Can you feel the glory of her becoming?
I meet her gaze and I know it is a dream. My corporal self is ever sundered and this cannot be what it seems. She holds me gently as only Persephone can and as she whispers in my ear, I sense a wholeness once again. I feel my fate flee the bedside of my doom- and ever softly I hear my maiden sing the loveliest of tunes,
“Can you see the glory of my becoming? Can you feel the whisper of my love? Can you sense the magic of our fondness? Can you feel the magic in my touch? My love for you will reproach the dragon and draw your spirit free. So as you hear my whispered song—return my love, and be with me.”
The dragon let me fall from her mouth, broken and my body torn. What was once a living being crumpled to the cold ground and my hope bled into puddles at the feet of the beast. Somehow I didn’t feel cold or pain. Only the soft hum of Persephone’s voice coursed through my mind. She was gorgeous to behold and I was enthralled by her as I could not be by death. From near or far she held the gaze of all and defeated the dark lord’s hold on me. Her beauty shimmered as if her countenance were wind-swept. And she had me completely in death as she had in life. Can you imagine her glory and her becoming?
As I passed from gruesome death into glorious life, I sensed a truth that had escaped me time and time again. The tail of the beast had that ebonne sheen that shimmered down the back of my Perspehone. Her eyes could glow like embers as the eyes of the mighty beast. And all nature bowed to her wonder as it did in fear of the dragon once unleashed. Intertwined as one from beginning and for eternity, Persephone is the Dragon after all. Can you imagine her glory and her becoming?
Braids of Aphrodite
To twist the hair of Aphrodite
On the shores of lovely Cyprus
When the moon is full and waves crash softly near
Is a dream of mine
Love, desire, and beauty in each strand
Smooth to touch and look upon
Like the sands of Egypt before Octavianus
Strands of silken sympathy
It isn’t just to touch but to feel
Each weave makes us closer to the other
A gentle touch with powerful movements
Venus in a tapestry of love and lust
Each pass weaves another wave in the ocean of passion
A crescendo of feeling poised on romance and lust
A golden arrow waiting to pierce his mind and body
Loving her in Demeter like Eros did Aphrodite
Each motion releases the scent of her beauty
Braids of affection pour down her back
By his hands were they made
And his desire makes them perfectly wound
Adonis and Myrrha together at night
Their Son cared for by Persephone
Whose hair is a braid of golden luster
Made from mornings of togetherness
Accompanied by Charites in love and war
Braiding her hair to knot his desire there
His fingers feeling her softly and at once
Leaving her mesmerized as he pulls and weaves
Aphrodite rides the Swan as he touches her hair
Each quick motion bringing to an end
The interlacing hold he has on her
Only to begin again when the knots are loosed
Winds and tides shake the foundation
But the knots are safe until his hands loose them
Only to smooth her hair
And knot it again-every day the same way
Galatea caught his gaze with a braid of ivory wonder
A gift from Aphrodite- of words and imaginations
Spurring his love to lofty heights
And gentle mornings of a lover’s consecration
The Judgment of Paris seen in the tapestry of her woven hair
An apple for the fairest one from Eris to the Goddesses
Paris of Troy to make the choice, appointed by Zeus
He won Helen from Aphrodite’s promise
Helen’s hair is braided daily and her lover’s touch is sure
He finds her in a waking dream, and she finds him, as it were
Time touches all it seems- a kiss of eternal enmity
Braids of love bind them fast it seems- in exact proximity
Fourteen Minutes
Fourteen minutes was not enough
To touch the sky they needed time
Seconds passed quickly while they danced
As they moved to Orphic chant and rhyme
Zeus and Persephone- intertwined
In Hellenistic romance under Sun and Moon
On the table of Olympus dined
He feeds her grapes and dandelions
From Hades he rescues her each day
Soft hands pull her free from death
He kisses away webs of Alexander
And dresses her in robes of alabaster
The seconds pass quickly while they danced
The tune changes as does the wind itself
Passing from sorrow to sinful and back again
Seconds passing as the wind through leaves
Their pace quickens noticeably
Hounds approach from East and West
He holds her tight as she does he
The pressure mounts and leads to stress
Chariots pass drawn by horses of fire
He mourns the loss of time so dire
Draws her kisses to replace his ire
Kindled passion moving higher
The seconds pass quickly while they danced
Moved together in heliocentric romance
Eurydice passes and leaves another
Youthful lover in her place
Heavens shatter in a cascade of fierce emanations
He moves under her declarations
Cause and effort mightily won
The time has passed and they have none
He is Paris and she is Helen
Taken from Menelaus by fate
And passion and love unconquered
The time slips by vanquished from their side
The seconds pass quickly while they danced
1000 ships hold afloat their romance
Fleeting, Fleeting, Fleeting
Their hearts are beating
The lovers yield- time has left them alone with their heat
In the tempest of unfinished promises
Swirling in a sea of honest turmoil
Fourteen minutes was not enough
Absolute
You are like the moment before
Water freezes into crystals
The lattice structure starts to set-
Vibrations and oscillations slow
The angles form
And all for one quiet moment is silent beauty
And absolute
I can see worlds in you
And worlds
Worlds in the swirls of your curls
When you shake your head the world turns upside down
And for one small moment
In the fear of destruction
Love is pure
You are like the rain as it wells in the clouds
Misunderstood and admired
Traveling the world falling where you will
Vibrant and needed
Rushing life to those who heeded
In the liquid frenzy
Lust is easy to taste
I can see escape in you
And freedom
Escape and bare excitement in your eyes
When you flutter night and day gives way
And for one small moment
In the fear of whiteout
Dreams are Technicolor
You are like a rainbow before it touches ground
Followed and oft captured
In memory and imagination
Falling to earth with a cacophony
Of wonder and impressive alignment
In the fear of completion
You fall in rhythm
I can see you fall
And as you do I catch you
And set you right
On the earth and under rain drops
Facing the sun
With the moon at your back
And me by your side