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"Prometheus" - after Burne Jones
© 2016 David Prashker
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I recited what the trees had told me
the lessons I had learned from travel
and the pages of too many dusty novels
I stood to watch you kneel and hold me
I saw a cloud ambush the sun
and trap it in a tuft of heather
I turned the human zero into One
I let the eagles feed upon my liver
and the pages of too many dusty novels
I stood to watch you kneel and hold me
I saw a cloud ambush the sun
and trap it in a tuft of heather
I turned the human zero into One
I let the eagles feed upon my liver
*
Out of the darkness an iron rain came lashing
breaking on these broken shoulders
chained amongst these sacred boulders
eyried in the hollows of these mountains
Out of the brightness a crystal rain came slashing
refracted light on glass, then crashed
on cinders washed away to dust and ash
among these dancing fountains
Then the thunder spoke again:
sound of iron melting
hard and blue as sky
sound of crystal clattering
of hearts
of mirrors
shattering
in the hurricane’s closed eye:
“Behold the spikes of wood
that nail me
to the weary rock
Behold the split claw
scratching on a blemished rock
Behold the smell of Eden burning”
Fruit hangs dead upon the branch
a maggot crawls
rotten heart from rotten heart -
aye, a worm turning
*
“For years,” she told me, “I have pressed
my fingers against frosted glass; lest
I should fail to find life sweet
I have watched the fishes dance in pools
and laid my bait for lovers - fools
who thought that they could make my life complete
“But life grows bitter
Whenever tempted now I pluck the fruit
I lay my bait for fishes, weigh their scales
gamble on their heads and tails;
and eating my own meal with boiled roots
I watch the eagles feed upon your liver”
*
The sound of metal shattering
like shields clattering
against this metal roof
The sound of falling stones
as hard and white as broken bones
against a breaking tooth
Behold! the gods have stolen fire
out of the Titan’s phoenix-pyre
unleashing its entire secret upon men
Beware! the serpent in the mire
eating fruit to his heart’s desire
washing his hands of innocence again
*
When suddenly the serpent hesitates
pausing on the edge of disbelief
Powerless against this greater evil
Out of the darkness an iron rain came lashing
breaking on these broken shoulders
chained amongst these sacred boulders
eyried in the hollows of these mountains
Out of the brightness a crystal rain came slashing
refracted light on glass, then crashed
on cinders washed away to dust and ash
among these dancing fountains
Then the thunder spoke again:
sound of iron melting
hard and blue as sky
sound of crystal clattering
of hearts
of mirrors
shattering
in the hurricane’s closed eye:
“Behold the spikes of wood
that nail me
to the weary rock
Behold the split claw
scratching on a blemished rock
Behold the smell of Eden burning”
Fruit hangs dead upon the branch
a maggot crawls
rotten heart from rotten heart -
aye, a worm turning
*
“For years,” she told me, “I have pressed
my fingers against frosted glass; lest
I should fail to find life sweet
I have watched the fishes dance in pools
and laid my bait for lovers - fools
who thought that they could make my life complete
“But life grows bitter
Whenever tempted now I pluck the fruit
I lay my bait for fishes, weigh their scales
gamble on their heads and tails;
and eating my own meal with boiled roots
I watch the eagles feed upon your liver”
*
The sound of metal shattering
like shields clattering
against this metal roof
The sound of falling stones
as hard and white as broken bones
against a breaking tooth
Behold! the gods have stolen fire
out of the Titan’s phoenix-pyre
unleashing its entire secret upon men
Beware! the serpent in the mire
eating fruit to his heart’s desire
washing his hands of innocence again
*
When suddenly the serpent hesitates
pausing on the edge of disbelief
Powerless against this greater evil
he tries to engage the darkness
as a temporary conscience -
and fails of course
Goodness has usurped destruction’s throne
Evil cannot even dream stalemate
Now there is only my mouth
brushing her mouth in a final tenderness
as I press my fingers against frosted glass
and pluck the fruit
How the dust eddies in the wind!
You can touch its flaking limbs
as a temporary conscience -
and fails of course
Goodness has usurped destruction’s throne
Evil cannot even dream stalemate
Now there is only my mouth
brushing her mouth in a final tenderness
as I press my fingers against frosted glass
and pluck the fruit
How the dust eddies in the wind!
You can touch its flaking limbs
You can smell its rotting flesh
You can taste its stinking breath
You can see the eye cave in
right there
where the dust-eddied hurricane begins
Blood
fire
thunder
volcanoes cascading
lava tall as mushrooms
Thunder
lightning
bells tolling
all of it just as we had expected
“Look,” she calls
“there is blood on my apple”
holding out to me a juicy worm
Lightning miraculously breaks my chains
thunder drives the eagles to the sea
You can taste its stinking breath
You can see the eye cave in
right there
where the dust-eddied hurricane begins
Blood
fire
thunder
volcanoes cascading
lava tall as mushrooms
Thunder
lightning
bells tolling
all of it just as we had expected
“Look,” she calls
“there is blood on my apple”
holding out to me a juicy worm
Lightning miraculously breaks my chains
thunder drives the eagles to the sea
Again lightning - striking twice - again
and shattering all life and death
all knowledge, every human breath
tears down the tree
*
Behold a serpent, creeping stealthily through dust
Behold the red shadow on the rock
Behold the storm-wrecked garden
Behold a man and woman, naked
Behold the rain, still rattling its chains
But the mountains are empty now
The firmament is void
Only the archaeological remains
You can find David Prashker at:
http://theargamanpress.com/
http://davidprashker.com/
http://davidprashker.net/
https://www.facebook.com/TheArgamanPress
http://davidprashkersprivatecollection.blogspot.com
http://davidprashkerssongsandpoems.blogspot.com
http://davidprashkersartgallery.blogspot.com
http://davidprashkersworldhourglass.blogspot.co.uk/
http://davidprashkersbookofdays.blogspot.co.uk/
http://thebiblenet.blogspot.co.uk/
and shattering all life and death
all knowledge, every human breath
tears down the tree
*
Behold a serpent, creeping stealthily through dust
Behold the red shadow on the rock
Behold the storm-wrecked garden
Behold a man and woman, naked
Behold the rain, still rattling its chains
But the mountains are empty now
The firmament is void
Only the archaeological remains
You can find David Prashker at:
http://theargamanpress.com/
http://davidprashker.com/
http://davidprashker.net/
https://www.facebook.com/TheArgamanPress
http://davidprashkersprivatecollection.blogspot.com
http://davidprashkerssongsandpoems.blogspot.com
http://davidprashkersartgallery.blogspot.com
http://davidprashkersworldhourglass.blogspot.co.uk/
http://davidprashkersbookofdays.blogspot.co.uk/
http://thebiblenet.blogspot.co.uk/
Copyright © 2016 David Prashker
All rights reserved
The Argaman Press
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