The Muses

Chattering magpies, water nymphs 

Nothing but unworthy adversaries 

Creating art, inspiring literature 

Dipped in poetic liberty 

Nine of them borne in sacred springs 

Invoked in imagination 

Interacting in reality 

Could you ever judge their worth?

A True Lady If There Ever Was One

Lustrous hair, bountiful nature 

Demure in spirit, generous in action 

Without a stitch of clothing on her 

To elevate the condition of her people 

Braving modesty and convention 

She rode alone through the streets of Coventry 

Foreign sounds of hooves galloping 

And yet not a single glance thrown her way 

Except a "Peeping Tom" who dared to look upon her beauty 

Struck blind for his effrontery 

Ending the ride with thunderous cheers 

And a removal of all the dues from her Lord Husband 

Immortalising passion and sensuality 

Leaving behind an indelible impression 

Such that, centuries begone inspired 

The creation of the food of Gods

The Furies

Ages ago blood droplets paved the way - 

For heads wreathing with serpents, 

Eyes dripping with blood, 

Wings of a bat, body of a dog. 

Borne out of the anger of the dead, 

To avenge false oaths; 

The angry ones, the gracious ones, 

Sometimes one, sometimes numerous - 

The deities of vengeance, 

Arising from a self-curse!

The Fall of Troy

The invincible city wouldn't have fallen but for the... 

Death of the Trojan prince before he reached an age of score 

Razing of the Phrygian Gates, near the tomb of King Laomedon of lore 

Stealth from the city of the Palladium or was it something more? 

Some say it was for the part of Achilles son in the war 

For the capture of the starving Rhesean steed 

For the use of bow and arrows of Hercules by far 

For the long lost remains of Pelops indeed 

Could any of this be the reason for the fall or was it a more simple reason in reality? 

A wooden horse hiding warriors carrying swords and spears; 

Death of a valiant commander prince sworn to fealty - 

Abduction of sweet Helen and a siege lasting ten years...

A warrior like no other...

Dipped in Styx by my nymphet mother, 

Made immortal, the Gods shudder - 

My only weakness - my heel will make me dead! 

Lived in disguise as Pyrrha, the redhead. 

A Lemnian, a Trojan bedded, & yet no love wedded. 

A cousin dead, a son lost to fates

Loyal, brave Myrmidons my only mates... 

I am a law unto my own, 

No king, no ruler I have known! 

Apollo enraged, an arrow unguided by name, 

Surpassing my creator in my fame - 

Undefeated yet dying because of war, 

A Trojan Princess my ghost demands by far! 

Her quiet sagacity and honor, my beacon 

Her sacrifice the final one I reckon.

In the name of...

Kasper, Melchior, Belshazzar, 

No king, no emperor, not a czar! 

A not-so-straightforward manikin am I, - a poltergeist, a goblin, a dwarf with a strange name to go by! 

Sheepshanks, Cruickshanks, Spindleshanks? 

Oh would you go beyond these pranks? Not-so-simple-as-a-Conrad, 

My name could never be a part of a fad - 

If you fail to guess my name for goodness sake! 

I shall brew, I shall bake, a royal child I shall take. 

Your wasted efforts do make me grin, 

For my name is nothing but... (Rumpelstiltskin)

Respite from the garret

Ashes to ashes, dust to dust 

The cinders gave me my identity first... 

But a benevolent godmother with fairy dust so fine, 

Had for me a dress of gold and silver threads entwine! 

A tap on the head turned 'em six mice to dapple-gray steed, 

my chariot - the moon, the witches, the charm and more decreed; 

Caged-rat-to-coachman fix - 

With liveried footmen come from lizards six! 

Dainty lil' glass slippers to carry me, 

back before the witching hour - I outta be!

Locked in a tower...

Cravings for a rampion
Made Mother Gothel my champion
But in a tower alone I stay
Sometimes I let down my hair, sometimes I dare to sing and sway
Sometimes I wish to make the Old Crone stop
But using my very own gold spun silken stresses she climbs atop
For they are twenty yards and longer
I wish I was braver, I wish I was stronger
If I was, I would chop my hair and make it a rope
And then on my own would I elope
But here in a tower alone I stay
Waiting for a prince to come this way!

Human Soul's Journey from Mortality to Eternity

My destiny brought by Zephyr's aid - 

Made me the true love of Love himself! 

Vicious sheep I sheared, unsurmountable mounts I climbed, 

Returned back from the gates of Hades & beyond; 

All at your bidding for a chance to see my one love again. 

Oh envious Venus, why doth thou put me to task? 

Was it because of my beauty unheard in the mortal world? 

Oh Mother of mine, for thou art such 

I would gladly give up the secret of my beauty, 

For a moment longer with your son. 

I pray you forgive me and welcome me Home! 

Like a long lost daughter 

By virtue of my union with your son. 

For it can bring only Pleasure - 

The Gods have decreed, I will be... 

Born in mortality, raised to Eternity

The Human Soul - On A Journey To Perfection

Helped by Zephyr in search of her destiny 

The true love of Love himself 

Put to task by the envious Venus 

 Was a little sleep the secret of her beauty? 

Favored by the Gods, partaking their Ambrosia 

Her union with Cupid resulting in Pleasure 

 Born in mortality, raised to Eternity

Impending Promises

Your wish, my command; 

A rose - your heart's desire! 

You look out for me even though - 

Appearances can oft be deceptive. 

Making you happy, makes me happy 

& today thou art hundred leagues and more away, 

My ring will bring you back if you so will it - 

Will you win this battle of wills? 

Be as true-hearted as you are beautiful? 

Will you return to stay willingly with me forever? 

I beg you not to desert me 

Until you have saved me from my cruel misery

The Lost Kingdom

In front of the pillars of Heracles eons ago, 

Stood the magical island of Atlas, 

 Bequeathed to him by his Old Man; 

Envied by one and all! 

In a single day and night of misfortune - 

Brave Atlanteans Demeter swallowed! 

Punished by Ares for a slight perceived, 

The kingdom vanquished into shoal muds. 

Only Father Time as its witness, 

Hidden by the God of the Seas - 

Awaiting discovery once again, 

At the bottom of the ocean somewhere lies...

Purity In Time

Years gone by awaiting true love 

Avoiding the advances of many 

Weaving the shroud of a living parent by day 

Undoing a part of it by night 

 Will they be able to string the most rigid of bows 

Throw an arrow through twelve axes? 

Will the Gods intervene... will they not? 

Living in fear each day praying

A Prophesy Unheard

A cursed gift – seeing all & yet - 

Remaining unheard through the years 

Warnings about a gift horse 

My voice still ringing in deaf ears 

Leading to destruction of my kin 

In my arms, seeing a lover’s demise 

With fear awaiting the day of my doom 

Helpless and hapless, each morn I arise

Of love and wars...

Gods and Goddesses with bound hands 

Watched in silence a war wage 

A warrior undefeated, a heel untouched 

Slain with an arrow unguided 

A face that launched a thousand ships 

In the turbulent seas where battles brew 

Ending with tragedy at each doorstep 

Fades away, a glory past 

A smile that’s lost in the pages of history

Spinning tales...

My dreams show spinning wheels 

A towering hall hidden in trees 

A hundred years have come and gone 

And still similar visions are on 

Cursed and blessed at the moment of my birth 

My knight in shining armour is still at his hearth 

Time unbound I await 

My destiny to change

Writing on the wall

Blessed by the Goddess 

The Maiden, The Mother, The Crone 

Unsurpassed in the looking glass 

Defying my soul, my body, my psyche 

 Taming my tresses ever so fine 

The forbidden fruit lodged in my throat 

Waiting in a glass sepulcher 

 For my chrysalis stage to end 

The day my caterpillar will turn into a beautiful butterfly

Dissolving into foam

Three hundred years, three eons, an age of servitude

Trying to earn my immortal soul

Ethereal beings floating on air

Feeling the warmth of the sun

A melody unheard, a beauty unseen

Each smile I give – lessens my burden

Each tear I shed – one too many

Striving for eternal life,

My atonement starts the day

I dissolve into foam

And cease to exist...