Forgotten Ground Regained

Jilted Princess Finds Solace in Wine and Cats

(Ariadne at Naxos)

I found it.I found the way, the winding threadheld tight in sweating handsthrough each slow stepof deepening darkness,further into the Labyrinth. Passageways and apartmentsbulked unexpectedlylike buried memoriesthrough which a synapse traildanced with electric purpose:to eliminate the man-animal,eater of human flesh. The shame! A mothermounted by a bull!With a sword-thrustthe children are freedto sail to safetyand your seedfills my wombTheseus. But the beach is empty,desolate.Agony echoes from the cliffsand it’s mine.Shadow animals threatenat the edges of visionwith strange cries,hot breath onthe back of my neck.Fur brushes an ankleand the scent of civetaccentuates the tastethe wine on my tongueand staining these red hands.
Published in Forgotten Ground Regained: A Quarterly Journal of Alliterative Verse, New Series, Issue 6, Spring, 2025.
Copyright © Dave Wynne-Jones, 2025
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