myth2myth

Aphrodite: hollow eyes in marble

Their skin thickened. Their blood lost its warmth. Their faces forgot motion.

Aphrodite: no blush left

They mocked the rites. They laughed in the squares. They mistook contempt for freedom before a goddess who knew the weight of reverence.

Aphrodite: a tempest behind the eyes

The Charites came to adorn her.

Aphrodite: sea-foam with a pulse

She remembered no darkness.

gold like noon water

pulleys whispering

wrists caught

ankles bound

Hephaestus in the forge-glow

rose light, locked doors

myrtle in the air

Ares removing his spear

Aphrodite smiling below

gold remembers

adamant loom

threads crossing like fern spirals

Ares laughing at dawn

the Sun still watching

the sun kept the wound

olive shade

a kiss like molten ore

Helios above

a bronze raven descending

not to forget

wine from Nysa

bare feet among slag heaps

lyres around the anvil

and the first smile

ivy in the crater smoke

twilight like spiced wine

Hephaestus at the hinge

Dionysus on the warm anvil

one god asks

soot on the war god

Ares came back quiet

Hera's chains held

Zeus clenched his jaw

and in Lemnos

the forge did not bow

bronze dogs breathing flame

tripods marching like soldiers

Ares with his spear

lilies over the snare

Nemesis at sunrise

dolphins beneath the raft

a gull crying overhead

the throne was born in basalt

molten gold

a quiet hammer

pain passing into craft

Be unremembered

Iris smoke and palace whispers

the chamber smelled of iris and thunder

purple cloth, held breath

a child in Hera's arms