Swaying leaves and lapping shores
herald shifting dreams
of memories imagined.

O silent harpy!

O gentle xanthippe!

O pious demon
standing sentinel
to the imprisoned freedom of my mind!

On whom is my treacherous fealty bestowed?
In whose heart does my loving hate reside?

Painted roses,
obscured by fog,
muffling clanging bells
and silent screams –
Lilith’s winter retreat.

Off with her head! the hydra howls,
ubiquity incarnate,
xyloid expression defying Yama’s call.

Trust. Doubt. Hope. Despair. Fabulist dominie ministering vacillant eternity.

Deceitful certitude.
Melancholy yearning.

I Am. I will see. Will I see? Can I?

Repentant wolf
Hollow damnation.
Crumbling foundations.

Invented Truth.
Dying Life.
The Way is lost.

I care not.

The Way was not my way,
divergence long past.
I took another fork.

© Adelaide McElhinney 2021

Categories: Poems

Tags: dissonance, Poem, poetry