No sooner is the boy's soul safely stored,
then Atropos ferociously arrives
brandishing those shears, feared and abhorred
as if she means to snip short all their lives.
'Swear this is the body of your brother,
swear upon your own life as is apt.
Swear you have not tricked me with another,'
or I shall sever all that was coapt*.'
'I swear this is none other than Bion,
I pledge if I lie, I will forfeit my life.
This child despised by cruel Hyperion,
can no more offend, no more induce strife.'
The goddess reluctantly does relent:
'It seems I have no cause for discontent.'
*coapt = tightly fastened or adhered. Atropos is threatening to snip apart Life itself - she is one pissed off goddess.
YOU ARE READING
Dragonish
PoetryPART 1: Seven poems that explore love. The sated wind doodles mischievously no longer the ravening raptor loosed that scratched sharp claws to my unfettered glee. Now are you temperate, husky, obtuse. PART 2: Follows the tale of a persecuted dragon...
