by Lupercus Pagani
where one road
splits in two
did I sit and wait
hidden by a tree
as twilight faded
and darkness came
the cacophony of
frogs and goatsuckers
gave way to silence
save an owl calling
in the distant wood
closer and closer
I heard the shrieks
of a woman spectral
who I did spy
hunched over with
a braying donkey’s
hindquarter
mirrored by
a leg of brass
polished smooth
and bright
in its knee
did I see
my own
eye
as she
passed
If this
is but
a scout,
then how
terrible will
her Mistress be?
maybe for
another hour
did I sit without
movement or
sound
twin stars
on the horizon
burned like
embers in
the sockets
of some
steel servant
forged by
Hephaestos
to tend the
gardens of
Olympos
but these stars
grew larger
and traveled
down the road
nearer and nearer
until I realized
that they were
the flaming heads
of torches
held by unseen
hands
this must
be She
and as I thought
the words
I could hear
those horrible
hounds said
to guard Her
every step
I knew this
willow trunk
and its weeping
leaves would never
shield me from
the eyes of a Goddess
who can pierce
three worlds
at once
and so I did regret
my boldness
and awaited
my fate
but when the light
of the torches did
reach me
night was lifted
from the spot
and everything
glowed saffron
where one road
splits in two
the Queen of
sea and sky
and earth
subservient
to Zeus and
Fate alone
came into
my view
a little girl dressed
in yellow tunic
curls brushing
Her shoulders
as She hopped
barefoot among
wide-eyed puppies
black as coal
tumbling over
one another
in play and
yipping as
She encouraged
them on with
gentle kicks
for Her pale
hands held
torches
much larger
than Her arms
Is this She who
helped the Gods
themselves defeat
those primal Giants
sent by a Gaia enraged?
YES, She answered
for She was in
my head
and from that
moment on
I would never
be the same
neosalexandria 