Tuesday 23 March 2010

Ophelia


Blind feet stumble over slippery roots of willow trees

And pale pebble-toes tangle around the shoots and brambles

That are emerging from the depths to caress her ankles and welcome her to their palace.


She sings songs of love, and taints them with her heart-ache.

A daisy falls from her hair and embraces the glassy surface of the brook, floating and dancing.

How she wants to dance upon the mirror, dance among the flowers and the stones...


Her feet touch the glassy surface of the brook and they are kissed back by flints

And thorns, lurking underneath the masquerade of dancing petals.

Cruel currents tear away her garland headdress and roots grab her wrists.


So, singing her songs of love and heartbreak, the maiden concedes to the will of the waters-

Too tired of life to fight against this violent nature.

She obeys the pull of the tide, and bends her back to lie with the stones.


Unbearable for skin so smooth, to be caressed by fragmented flints,

Their cold points dig fiercely into her thigh, a shark with the taste of blood.

The teeth tear at her as her body contracts, and the dance becomes a sick embrace.


Eyes watch from the river bed and a rare stone will heave itself at her head,

Suddenly caught in a torrent of violence and fury, where it spits shards, cracking and splintering.

Somehow these stones know no time...they lie in the bed with her and erode together.


And when, by chance, the queen was spotted, such a sight she must have been.

Garments spread as though flying through her kingdom, and her garlands twined round her fingers.

Blood-red lips pulled into a sad smile from where she has kissed the stones.


Her hair glistens with green and gold, and beneath her lies her treasure – scattered petals

Lie upon shimmering diamonds, held safely in the heart of her rocks, glinting happily for their sovereign.

Now, like a stone, she is pulled from the water and crumbles against your fingers.


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