(I): Harp and Heart
Some call me Wayfarer,
Or Seafarer,
Traveller, Exlorer, Hiker,
Call me what you will.
I have been without name,
I have been out of touch,
Never hearing words of brotherhood,
Never hearing the voice of camraderie.
My childhood, my time,
Short-lived,
Spent among fellow man,
Working to a unifying goal.
Truth is I barely remember,
Truth is it is lost to me,
The time I spent among humanity,
The time I was not alone.
'Nay, alone is not accurate.
In solitude, lost?
I am not alone in this place,
There is someone with me.
Someone without name,
Someone not quite real,
A creature in solitude, akin to me,
A creature in solitude, so as to lure me.
My mission long forgotten,
Cast aside, perhaps,
I travelled by boat, stranded,
One-man vessel, in infinite sea,
When Kastor and Polydeuces assaulted me,
When those twins sought to warn me,
I prayed for my life to the aged man,
I prayed for my life, for the end of this odyssey.
Tossed by tide and storm,
Light, and land,I saw, I dreamed, and steered toward,
While control was still in my grasp,
Hoping no fiend would find me there,
Hoping no nymph awaited in triumph,
Unprepared for what I would find there,
Unprepared, for what I would find there was;
Meadow, stretched far as eye could see,
Sweet scent, and melody,
On the edge of hearing hung a tune familiar,
Sweet notes of harp and angelic song,
I was a man possessed, ensnared,
I was as the flora of that field alike,
Each head tossed, it seemed, towards that source,
Each head tossed, it seemed, towards that angel-place.
As I neared toward that place I saw,
Pale flesh, hair,
And golden harp held close, lovingly,
Each string shimmering, glowing in the soft light,
Like the skin, radiant, appealing,
Like the girl, eyes closed, heavenly whispering,
In language I did not understand, but I felt,
In language I did not understand, deep meaning.
I confess, already at this time, I found myself,
My heart, and core,
Moving, with feelings I had never felt before,
And seeing her before me, I admit,
I longed for the feel of her flesh,
I longed for her touch, her warmth,
She lay bare before me, harp in her arms, and,
She lay bare before me, drawing me ever closer.
Laying upon a mound, or hill, near sitting,
Singing, and playing,
Her fingers flicking across strings,
Plucking here and there, the strings of my heart,
Speaking my name, in her ancient tongue,
Speaking of love, and things to come,
Her dark eyes opened, fixed directly on me,
Her dark eyes opened, she sang of tragedy.
Her lips parted, and asked for me,
The tune stopped,
And I leaned down as she kissed me,
That moment I knew my spirit was caught,
Drawn to her in a single motion,
Drawn from me with that significant action,
Possession cast aside, her harp in the grass,
Possession cast aside, bare before her.
We shared of each others warmth,
Of love, lust,
Lost in her beauty, I forgot my plight, until,
Satisfied, she cast me aside, done with me,
Unfolding, I saw her wings spread wide,
Unfolding against the backdrop of the sky,
Clear vision, I saw now the truth of my path,
Clear vision, know this: "Amor Vincit Omnia".
(II): Harp and Flesh
I awake with a smile upon my face,
Thinking I am with my love again,
Curled up, warmth in my embrace,
But waking brings naught but pain.
My bed of decay and restless birth,
Where worms and parasites wake me,
Creatures of the rot and earth,
See sure my dreams forsake me.
Through netted, overhanging canopy,
Of spears adorned with green-gold slabs,
Tormenting visions pour down onto me,
Beautiful hair, of That Which Grabs.
With dire announcements of a coming woe,
The voice of Aello from above me rings,
Approaching, I see the female face Celaeno,
To her duty she comes, The Swift Wing.
I lie spread-stretched over rock and dirt,
Immobile, with hunger that saw me fell,
Feast so close as to cause only hurt,
Snatcher keeping me here in hell.
Tricked by immortal guise and guile,
I sought out the Fair Hair in this place,
The razor talons went unnoticed while
I fell in trance for the beauty of her face.
In this browning wood, each tree a life
Foolishly sacrificed, nay, thrown away,
I too fell folly, seeking escape from strife,
Ignorant to my willingly entering the fray.
She inhabits me, and hounds and haunts,
Steals sustenance, snatches feast away,
For jealousy, I must now suffer, she taunts,
Talon tearing tendon, 'till my bones are grey.
An eternity she has spent at her duty here,
Cawing her lamentations in these eerie trees,
Bringing loss, hope, loss, in a cycle of years,
The suffering spread in our branches her creed,
Over such juvenile a thing as fruitless love
I fell, in ignorance, to suffering, and pain,
The Harp' serves reminder in the sky above,
"Amor Vincit Omnia", this truth shall remain.
(III): Harp and Soul
Countless millenia have passed, since I arrived in this place.
Innumberal years of unspeakable tortures have annihilated me,
I am more suffering than man, more death than living,
For my body gave up on pain long ago, could not contain it.
I would have thought I died, were it not for the songs.
The songs, the songs,
Still ringing in my ears, ever present, ever persistent,
Notes that mock the folly and weakness of mortal men.
Sweetest notes have sickly turned.
Those days, weeks, years - For I have lost all measurements,
There was little left to speak of that direst cruelty; Hope.
Yet, I thought, perhaps in madness, or desire,
Or in some torturous cruelty by my captors,
I believed I heard a voice, the softest whisper,
A modest promise, to which all salvation stuck.
The voice told me her name,
Spoke to me of royalty, and splendour.
She told me of love, and war, and growth,
and I believed -
It is when man has reached his greatest low,
He may celebrate, for he sinks no further.
Devoid of eyes to see, or flesh to feel,
I was merely a soul stretched as a string,
Yet I heard myself, shimmering in a soft breeze,
A growing gale, the wind of my captor's reckoning.
So it was now I knew the battle had begun,
The name of my new Queen, declaring war,
"Hera challenges that we compete at once,
To the victor goes the others vanquished valour."
The amorous one's voice engulfed me,
Resonating with my maddenning sorrow,
Echoing within the barren halls of my mind,
Filling up those corners long since hollowed.
A great love had swelled up within me,
And I pledged myself to her immediatly.
Erato, the most perfect of her kind.
My possessors voice proceeded then to ring
In harmony, both my loves now sing.
The two were heard so sweetly, for so long,
So closely matched, I feared I had been wrong,
Until the Siren laid her hands upon her lyre,
To steal, as Harpies would, my love's desire.
The piece chimed in, and joined their song,
And my love began to lose her equal place,
Her harp came out to join them in the fray,
But confidence shone in my Siren's face.
Her opponent's voice was quivering,
The song was slowly breaking,
I could not let my captor win this way.
Her fingers passed over me, and pulled,
Yet to her dismay no note came about.
She pulled and plucked again, to no avail,
At a final touch the string snapped and fell out.
Her song had simply stopped, and she was done.
My great loves wavering voice had won.
A shrill cry of betrayal screeched through the sky,
Defeat in voice was thought impossible.
Erato laughed, and plucked, without care,
Her feathers - to fight back would be implausable.
The siren had lost at Hera's game,
To keep her image would be a crime.
Thus she was soon left featherless and bare.
She left in shame, and my love began to play,
Becoming young, and sweet, absent-mindedly
Weaving her prizes each around,
She turned the Sirens honour to a crown.
Her trophy won, I thought she would turn away,
When she became suddenly aware of me.
The strangest sensation surrounded me on all sides,
And I felt air enter my lungs, and rush through my hair.
My hands were clutching at the meadows ground,
- I could see again, after centuries without eyes.
Returning to me, after I stopped my siren's song,
My body felt weak, left motionless so long.
She smiled at me, and helped me to my feet,
Kissed me, briefly, and I felt my strength restored.
Her lips were soft, and her taste was sweet,
The ailments of millenia, in one motion cured.
She said she feared her loss, before I came along,
And gave her thanks for my part in her victory.
She said my soul had shone, lifted her song,
I knew in that moment that she had loved me.
We belong to one another, forever bound
In life and death, in love, in hopes and fears.
The song she sang, we sing together now,
To celebrate love with each passing year.
We named that melody we play together,
In honour of how our love came to be.
Words that we have both believed forever,
"Amor Vincit Omnia" - eventually.
(IV): Harp and Stone
I had grown into a content soul,
Despite a life of incident,
I had found a place of warmth and growth,
My love was heaven-sent.
Had this been the ending of my tale,
I would have died pleasant, feeling well,
But Hera's jealousies burn and hiss,
She would ruin men for her own bliss.
My wife was a beauty to behold,
The praise and pleasure of all men of old.
Hundreds used to pine and perish,
Pilgrimage and pray for a single kiss.
In their power, those who could do much more,
The Gods themselves would act thus,
'Till the Sea Lord brought her to Athena's store,
And took her, overcome by his lust.
Her punishment was swift,
Athena's wrath burned in veins-
Erato's body wracked and torn,
Snakes spilled from her brain.
Her image now wretched, beauty died,
When I looked in her eyes, I became petrified.
Unable to face what she had become,
She remained in our hall, hid from the sun.
The men that came now each passing day,
Saw not the beauty that they sought,
And soon her legacy died away,
The Aegis' message swiftly taught.
The name Erato, once loves own aura,
Became an ugly myth, became "Medusa".
The Gorgon eyes, the cockatrice stare,
Tears down a face for which only I cared.
More and more men, who had come here in lust,
Fell before her, to rubble and dust.
I had companions now, in these halls of stone.
This cavernous museum with no life inside,
Was what had become of our loving home.
Amidst all the other statues I try to hide.
I do not wish to see her form anymore,
As she slithers, a lilith, across marble floors.
She tore up the village, and neighbours we knew,
To barren dead cliff, turned the land to rock too.
Atlas looks up at this place in misery,
While God's Queen laughs at what she sees.
This serpentine creature has forgotten my sculpture,
Just another stone body, and no healing elixer.
The wasteland that this place has become,
Just a mirror of the lands where other beasts roam.
The labyrinth must look as this hall does,
Lost men and stone where the darkness grows.
Set upon by a creature of fable,
We long to escape, yet find ourselves unable.
Ages passed on, with no new change occurring,
Until a strange whistle came, began to sing.
A golden bird entered the halls of rock,
Perched on my head - Just one of our flock.
"Athena has taken pity on you, Gorgoneion,
She offers her shield, and your punishment done."
This message was simple, did not decieve me,
But the monster was blinded by need to be free.
Soon her need came, in the form of a man,
Winged-sandals, sword, mirrored shield in his hand.
He saw her in glass, and his blood remained red,
Cut at the neck, he stole the gorgons head.
Her body was pillaged, changed, and now done,
Two creatures spilled forth, but the hero had gone.
Athena's shield was such a simple lie,
The creature had thought "surrender", not "die".
Her head now a weapon, with potent power blessed,
A petrifying cover held at the goddesses breast.
All men to look on her still turned to stone,
As I - the first victim - in these halls alone.
I was enough of the fool to love her after rape,
To curse the old man, and to try keep her calm.
I should have left her the day my love was forsaken,
Before her actions turned sour, turned me a stone man.
Yet the same mistake made and broke me all my life,
I lived a happy time with her as my wife.
The lady of love has plagued me forever,
I had not been careful enough with her temper.
The cestus' power I could not resist,
Though she paired me with Ares when preparing my tryst,
And though the Gods have now changed,
The Irresistable now gone,
I am still plagued by this new "Cupidon".
So when my love was assailed in the land of Athena,
I fell plague, now eternally; "Amor Vincit Omnia".
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