Song of Antares
1.
I have been Tristran
Suffering in malshapen beauty,
In lucent transfixion
With eagles in my liver
And vultures who tore at my heart.
Bones of my childhood hungers
Shine in the lucent Hell-sky!
My anguish burned away
The normal cataract
Till I could clearly see
The Goddess of the Diamond Abstract.
I lived within a tomb
Until She came to me --
For I have been the highwayman
And I have been the thief;
I have been the lover of dragons;
And I, who was the lover and the fool
Have been chained to grey stone.
I have known that the night has no warmth --
For I have been the highwayman,
And I have been the artist
And I have been the fool.
I have been
The gentleman thief of New Orleans,
Piercing the leather pods
Of hearts of Gods
With shafts of the Rising Sun's dreams!
2.
Tristran!
It is me:
Lady Isis, who dwells on Antares.
Now you need no longer flee
The envious Mark!
You were my lover on earth;
Now I am your lover forever.
No longer need we burn
On Underworld stakes --
For I am no longer bound
By my jealous sister.
I, who am your mother and your lover
Now tell you: Your father was Death!
Here all the Oak-hearted Gods
Have cast their arrows into fire --
Fire which is red like Antares,
A redness we drew from the Apple
Of human sacrifice --
On that day when
The Bride of Christ
Devoured her Lord.
He came with the secret of fire
And taught men of letters and tools.
With fire they roasted his head,
And raised up the Letter in his stead.
Then the tool, in hands of the fools
Pierced its maker's side,
And King Mark made away
With Tristran's bride.
from The Survivor by Matt Cygny.© 1993,1996, Matt Cygny
all rights reserved
