Freya
Shield-Maiden, Lover
Sister, Mother
Embraces owing
Life unfolding
Blessings upon the fiery hearth
Tears above
Love below: relieve our toil
Darkness ebbing
Rhyme unending
Listen to my bold tale!
Freya
Red hair flowing
Sunlight growing
Rising upon the hill
A song of springtime
Complete this bold rhyme
Hear now my tale!

Set out into the dark forest with newly picked flowers for the hearth, grasped within a meager coat. Clutched in bare hands and protected against her chest from the cold wind which blew so insistent. She was not far from the village when she met a woman on the road.

"A penny for your thought? A purpose for your soul?”

“I do not think so.”  

Mysterious crones on a lonely road.

“Perhaps mittens to keep an old woman’s hands warm?” scratched the voice of the Crone.

The girl who wished to be on her way produced one flower from her coat,  

“May the thorns keep your hands warm as they do mine.”

Fresh blood dripping from the open wound,
the Crone graciously accepted the rose.

“For this trouble” she said “I will return a favor of my choosing...for you did not give me what I asked... I give a warning. You may not know of such things, but on this night, in these hills is a crone not unlike me. When she asks a favor of someone, and they do not give it to her...she takes them, then buries them in her garden to make the spring come faster. She always asks for that which cannot be given. The snow cover and the full moon coming will sneak night upon you. Wherever you are heading you must stay the night. For if you travel back you will surely lose your way and find yourself food for the flowers.”

The girl who had been taught to be polite even to witches nodded and replied,

"Thank you for your gift.”

She headed on her way not believing a word of what the old Crone said.

Still this dread loom is woven with defeat. Even for the gods who would keep us safe from evil,  and guard us from death 'till the end of days was determined.

I say for us all in this song that after light had dropped, the first of the frost did melt.

I miss the solace of your blue and citrine eyes
the anxious twist of the zephyrs in my core
Stilled near you,
Standing in cool shadows beneath an oak—
The heart tree your parents
Planted when you were born
still mewling as white coats pricked your tiny feet
The hunger they induced that never quite left you.
Still, under your branches
I was safe.

I remember the night
Lachesis plucked a few more inches
From her spool
And you wrapped them around your finger
Driven by ****** of dread
Drew me into your arms, clinging to the spaces between my hips and ribs
Whispering into the curve of my neck  
that if you released me into starlight  
Erebus would ****** me away from you.  
And I had not doubted that you loved me
But feeling your caged panic
I learned the wings of your heart were strong enough to bend mine.

In the dark I am more skittish now
Untangling our threads
I unraveled the Moirai’s veil.
Alone,
I am under the crimson eye of too many men
Now that I am not
The apple of yours.
The Graeae glance down from their mountain
Holding their eye above an abyss
Words I always wanted said are
poisoned by unwanted lips.
The restless zephyr in my stomach stirs
Searching the nearest escape route.
And the softer tint of the world
has turned hard again.

But you are still the nearest sanctuary
And maybe it is selfish
To think of you so
But I hope I am still the same
For you.

After opening the jar, all the undoing's of mankind. I witness anxiety bring fear to mankind. As anxiety flew away I heard the bellowing cries in the distance. The bellowing sobbing and horrifying gasp from mankind they tried to pick themselves up off the ground. In my *****, I felt pain. A sharp intense pain. Like Zeus himself reached into my ***** and squeezed my beating heart. My heart filled with so much sorrow. The sorrow flowed to my eyes, warm tears trickled down my cheeks.

Evil clawed its way to the top of the jar. Evil, such a terrifying and ugly creature. It leaped from my jar and into the sky like Pegasus when he sprang from Medusa’s empty neck. Evil was swift and full of purpose as it flew into the sky. Evil looked back at me. My jaws clenched and teeth grind together. My eyes watered from dryness. I hadn’t noticed I wasn't blinking. The burn in my eyes was nothing compared to the unimaginable evil that was unleashed onto mankind. I wanted to close the jar. I couldn't disobey Zeus. If I did, it would bring me a fate far worse than Prometheus. What can be worse? What could possibly be worse than a giant eagle eating me alive for eternity?

I tried to look away. I didn't want to see the last plague on mankind. A smell filled the air and twisted my stomach. A stench of rotting flesh and death. Disease oozed out of the jar next. I dropped the jar while desperately trying to close it. Falling to my knees, breath stolen from my lungs. Gagging and gasping for air. Dark black mist filling every crack and crevice. The dark dank mist slowly crept further away spreading and consuming the light in all living things. As the plants and trees withered away, a part of me also died. I wanted so much to embrace the arms of hades, I wanted to give my light in exchange for theirs. What have I done? This is why you created me Zeus, out of spite!

Just then, I heard the jar move, I watched the jar jump and fell over. Over and over again. Something is desperately trying to escape. I remembered Zeus told me to close the jar right after disease escaped. Pushing myself from the ground I reached out for my jar. I held it close as I pried open the jar. I tried with all of my might. Clawing and prying the lid wouldn’t budge. Ignoring the demands of Zeus. No punishment, nor torture can be worse then the feelings I just felt. I’ve unleashed doom to all of mankind. I will be for eternity the one who brought doom to mankind. I lifted the jar above my head, tears streaming down my face, a fierce rage burning inside me. I yelled at the sky. Do as you will! Do as you must! Rip me apart as you were the one who put me together. I am no puppet! You will not control my fate any longer! I threw the jar to the ground, shattering into pieces.

A tiny speck of light flutters before me. It’s shining light embraces my face and I cup it in my hands. Watching it flutter, the sky grew black. The clouds rumbled, the earth shuddered. A loud crack deafens my ears, the bright light in my hands shot into my chest and then up to the sky. Zeus appeared from the clouds. Pulling my body towards him in the sky. “Why did you disobey me? Have you learned nothing from Prometheus?” The anger in his voice shook my core. I watched my feet slowly turning into ashes. A white fire slowly engulfed my limbs. Zeus screamed “do you know what you had done!” I replied “Zeus I will suffer for mankind. I will not be their undoing any longer” Zeus replied in a smug mocking tone “as you wish ephemeral”.

Zeus watched as my body turned into ashes. Before the flames embraced my face. I realized that light was hope. I released hope from her captive state. Hope is free for all of mankind to have and to hold. I fixed my last gaze upon Zeus and with my dying breath. I whispered “I know what I did. I know what it is and what it can do. I hope all of mankind will too.”

A toast to the two of us
Left behind, forgotten over time
Used as pawns of pleasure and tossed aside
Maps to hidden treasures abandoned after the journey

A toast to the two of us
On this day where we are one
Where I see you
And you see me

Ariadne
A toast to you,
For no particular reason

A toast to us,
For all that we can be
Let the stars commemorate this day
So for eternity we can see it
Carved into the sky
And no one will ever forget or use you again

A toast to us,
For all that we will be
Let my love be enough for you
To quell your tears and give you joy forever
To Hades and back, my dedication to you is eternal

spilled butane from a refilled lighter
heat lightning in the humid air
cigarette butts in a ***** cupholder

— not sure if this is still your number. part of me hopes it isn’t.

hand-me-down jeans that don’t fit anymore
bleach fume-induced headaches
burnt plastic setting off the fire alarm

— i’m leaving soon. i won’t promise i’ll be back.

overgrown grass from 8 days of rain
singed skin over a candle’s flame
rotting meat at the bottom a trash can

— death doesn’t discriminate. i know that now.

And after, there is only a gaping emptiness
the familiar ache
The desire to drown myself in soft things
Fill my pockets with pebbles and all the poems my muses will never read
And wade into the Lethe
To the place of the first breath after momentary pain
The liminal gasp between sighs
The first touch after a long absence
Body awakening to memory.

Welcome weary traveller, you are safe here. Dwell. Abide.
The scrounging scratching crawl you call a life withdraws.
Here,
Float in the fingers of sunlight through glass
The murmur of breath against hair
The glimpse of ripples from a water-strider’s gait.
Here,
You are small and safe
You suffer no harm nor cause it
Your existence has curled in on itself  
And blooms with the sunrise.
Here,
Your presence is a fleck on a robin’s egg
The bruise of teeth on a petal
An eyelash in sand
Lost, lingering, and longing.

The Lethe plucks the pebbles and poems into the current
Your likeness billows with ink in the wake
Adrift, I clutch at your fading hand
But rising, find I do not know this face
Left only with a flicker
Of a stranger’s arms
around my waist.

A wolf has come to eat the sun
the Gods supplied us only one
with jaws that tear and teeth that bite
he stops to drink our fading light
eclipse the world, pour out the soul
you nibble, can't you eat it whole?

Now Ritacene had too, followers, who would go on and build Raxon around her and her fields
Lady of Order, she bore twins- Abreh and Esseneh, sons which would assist in making animals
Abreh thought of animals and how the would work- their cycles, families, species, and yields
Esseneh felt of them and how they run, gallop, breed-  all the fish, birds, reptiles and mammals
One day, while visiting their aunt Phalgacene in her realm Phaxon, she gave them a challenge
‘Work as one, and as one you may work- make me, your aunt, a perfect and splendid animal’

Abreh, who took the challenge with most seriousness, thought of perfection in the form of life
He thought of arms and hands that create like Palcion, yet can destroy like that of Retisbon
And so of legs, chest, and a mind that though like him- so much so, Abreh became a brain
Esseneh, who took the challenge with most seriousness, felt of perfection in the form of life
He thought of an animal who can love like Lady Abro and forget like King Chazan of the sky
And so of heart, emotion, lust, greed, and want- so much so, Esseneh would become a heart

Phalgacene looked unto his two nephews and was shocked, worried, disgusted, and scared.
Shocked to see the mind of Abreh in its truest form, and so the the heart of Esseneh as well
Worried that in this most vulnerable state, the two would be injured yet immortal, forever in pain
Disgusted for Abreh’s thoughts and ideas gained movement, and Esseneh bled all over her
And scared that if Ritacene where to see her sons, she would be forlorn and upset for them
When the Lady of Order feels forlorn and upset, her fields dry out- the Malzaphaiatan riot

When the Lady of Order weeps and is cast down- the Zapharagaz are startled and stampede
In these the earth quakes and shakes mountains, and the sea torrents and kills countless
For though Phalgacene is the Lady of Chaos, Ritacene is the Lady of Order- disorder is chaos
For when Ritacene is angered, her sister comes to calm her, and brings her chaos to her order
When Ritacene is sad, he sisters comes to console her, and brings her war to her peacefulness
When Ritacene is sad and refuses to eat, Phalgacene comes to feed her- which starves many

The Two Ladies’ sororal love for eachother sing a song of nature and its harmonies and rhythm
When the Lady of Chaos seethes, spears grow like grain from backs of Malzaphaiatan herds
And the Zapharagaz dock and sail her navy unto the walls of nations- beating their stone down
As Phalgacene seethes, Ritacene comes to reason with her- and brings diplomacy to her wars
When Phalgacene hunts down other spirits, her sister stops her, and saves slaves from hunters
When Phalgacene speaks of destruction, her sister eases her, and delivers men from calamity

And so as to not dip a world in its infancy still- so delicate, so new, and so innocent- in chaos
Phalagacene sought to save the brain of Abreh and heart of Esseneh from eternal anguish
In her forge in which she used to cast the molds of her spears, swords, maces, and dirks-
She waxed its walls, heated its molds, and poured blessed bronze into its cavities hollowed
The mold she made to the designs of Abreh and Esseneh- who spoke of them so frequently
That the words had carved themselves into the walls of her court like instructions to follow

She planned to take the brain of Abreh and set it on the perfect bronze head to save it and him
She planned the heart of Esseneh to go to the perfect bronze chest to save both it and him
The bronze lay liquid and she left for it to set. She took Abreh and Esseneh- brain and the heart
She put them within jars of jeweled glass filled with water from the stream of Palcion, the Infinite
The stream from which Palcion uses to moisten the clay from which he molds all things from-
This water from the stream protected the Brain of Abreh and the Heart of Esseneh from pain

Meanwhile, in Ayar, Da’raan- King of Demons, first of the Great Demons, was much debauched
Trapped within the realm of the nothing of nothings in their fortress in the acid lake of Mizharyan
Da’raan and his legionnaires, the Bahalzaryan- pass the centuries brewing wine from acid water
They brew the rust that is shaved from their spears and ferments it in the waters of Mizharyan
From this, a wine that can burn through ones entrails is made, and is strong enough for Da’raan
Forlorn with Phalgacene’s rejection, he throws all the spears in Mizharyan and brews them all

Old spears and new ones sink to the bottom of the acid lake- its acid rusting them all to nothing
And in the span of a day, lake Mizharyan has fermented completely into the strong acid wine
Da’raan, in his sadness, sings of his woes and worries and hearteach to Lady Phalgacene
‘You trusted me with your best men, o Lady of Chaos. And in war, your life was to me as mine.
Foolish of me to think you thought of me more- merely one below your command and sword
I desire not only for you- but for your pride in me. Foolish men rarely gladen without good wine’

And so Da’raan drank the entirety of lake Mizharyan, which at this point was no more than wine
As the banks and bottom revealed itself, a spear unrusted stuck from the ground below them
One of the Bahalzaryan descended to it and to retrieve the spear, which was Da’raan’s spear
When it was dislodged from the ground, it revealed a spring that sprung and refilled Mizharyan
Da’raan wanted to mine iron to rust and make more wine, but the Bahalzaryan stopped him.
‘My Lord, you are in drunken haze- walk off your stupor and allow Mizharyan to heal its banks’

Da’raan , with the fair Phalgacene in mind, wandered out of the realm of Ayar much aroused
His face reddened and his clothes grew tight- Palcion distracted and Retisbon who was blind
Did not notice the Demon King walk drunkenly out of Ayar and into Phaxon- chaos’ domain
He wandered into her court, unseen to her true legionnaires due to the stench of acid wine
There he found Phalgacene casting a body of bronze for her nephews, Abreh and Esseneh
She was unaware of da’raan’s presence, for she blessed the bronze that set in the molds

Da’raan called for her and expressed his love ‘Lay with me, Lady of Chaos! Bear me a son!’
‘Da’raan! Heresiarch and King of Demons! Do you remember not? You are exiled from Phaxon!’
‘Lady of Chaos, I desire your pride in me! Leave me barren, but I will leave thee not, o love!’
‘I shall **** thee, Da’raan!’ Da’raan, thoroughly drunk, mistook her threat for an invitation to lay
The drunken King of Demons disrobed, and Phalgacene who has not seen men, stepped back
It seemed Da’raan had unsheathed a monstrous spear. Defenseless, she thought to evade him

In her pursuit, Da’raan leaped and ******* into the liquid bronze as it set and hardened.
Still in drunken stupor, the Demon King could not pursue Phalgacene any longer and fell asleep
The bronze body hardened, and the sleeping Da’raan was escorted out of Phaxon, back to Ayar
Phalgacene, ignorant of the new addition, assembled the body and  put Abreh and Esseneh in
The new being was twice as immortal as Abreh and Esseneh as was known as Abresseneh
He returned to ritacene, who loved his new son more than her old twins, and thanked Chaos

Abresseneh then created a new animal- man and woman. He would create them all in sets.
He made them in sets, for as twins he was created, and in his image were these animals made
Though these sets were not bound by anything, not even by family, blood, or name- poor things
And so man and woman are cursed to find the other, wed them, and complete the divine set
Descendants of three gods- Ritacene, Phalgacene, and Da’raan- humanity has this ultimatum
Mighty like Phalgacene, humanity may use his might to serve Ritatcene or serve Da’raan

Though humans are true descendants of Ritacene, their bodies are of Da’raan’s tainted lineage
In this, man’s conscience and morality pulls him to the Lady of order, their true mother Ritacene
Also in this, man’s body, desires, and vices pulls him to the Demon King, corruptor Da’raan
And so my students- Barzan, Valkar, and Homet- behold the story of mankind and his origin
Our creator father Abresseneh, son of Ritacene, Phalgacene, and Da’raan- calls us all by name
Do we use the strength of Chaos within us to serve Order or Evil? Preach this as you write of it.

‘Write this down, and read these out to anyone who will listen- listen to the tale of Phalgacene’
Phalagacene is the twin of Ritacene, both very beautiful, for they resemble one another
Ritacene’s beauty is magnified by her grace, compassion, kindness- around her, cities are built
Phalgacene’s beauty was charismatic. Despite her many sharp teeth, she inspired others
Now the creation of Palcion and the destruction of Retisbon created a process so strong-
That spirits lesser to the gods yet greater or equal to man were born from the friction of the two

These spirits sought power for their place in the world, and like plants, attached themselves-
To kings, to men, to lovers, and to fools. The wiser sought to seek the gods and their power
These spirits sought power for their own power, out of rocks they hewn and trees they felled
Cities of divine magnificence for their object of worship- these cities would soon begin to tower
One of these cities was the realm of the twin of chaos, Phalgacene, to where the end welled
Her followers took up spears and swords, not for war, but to honour her teeth and power

The legions of Phalgacene were fearsome and powerful, and defended her divine city, Phaxon
Among them most obedient, but among them radical, boisterous, full of vice, and most immoral-
The Bahalzaryan, led by Da’raan, courted Lady Chaos, pined to wed her, and bear him a son
She refused, and in this, he was angered, so rose to foolishly threaten a Chaos that is immortal
And so with her meteors with chains spanning all of space called for and faced Da’raan head on
He, with his Bahalzaryan, were defeated and they were banished from Phaxon forever more

Da’raan led his men to Chazan, who for them opened to grant them audience with Retisbon
In the darkness of the primordial court of the Twin Creator and Destroyer, they bowed to latter
And asked ‘Great ratisbon of the Limits, grant us a home, for your daughter has orphaned us!’
And in response, the great on took out his hand and carved a hole into ‘nothing more after’
It was dark and was the nothing of nothings- there he threw the Bahalzaryan in a ******
It was empty, so empty as it was the nothing of all nothings- and so as this hell, forever empty

And so the fate of Da’Raan and his legion of exiled Bahalzaryan- the first of hell’s legionnaires
And their master, the first great demon- Da’raan the Heresiarch, who disobeyed Phalgacene
In the new realm within the nothing of nothings- a hell named Ayar, filled with fire and acid air
Within Ayar, the memory of every battle and war plays out forever in endless strife and misery
Within Ayar, to protect himself and his army, Da’raan built a fortress in the acid lake Mizharyan
And so the tale of Phalgacene and her legions, and Da’raan and his men, the Bahalzaryan

Oh dessert zephyrs- take me, whisk me away from the vice of man and his cities
Take me to the dunes and caves- where I shall sleep on stone and eat locusts and honey
Oh desert zephyrs- fend off the men and who pursue me- for I detest all publicity
Oh desert zephyrs- send my prayers to Lady Abro, and tell her to take me soon and quick
For I took refuge in the heat of Chazan’s hearth- to burn off thoughts of lust and money
Oh desert zephyrs- belay my prayer; they’re here to stay. Bring us then to eat- bread and milk

And o, they say they follow me into the dunes of the Jashad, there are three of them here
The first- offered me his sash and fine clothes. I say that we are here now here to turn away from that
The second- offered himself to me as ganymede. I say we run and from lust to steer clear
The third- his treasure- I valued the most. He offered me his obedience. Night came, and we sat
And as we sat, I told them why I came to Jashad. ‘I came to seek Chazan and his heat’
‘And also Lady Abro and her patience.’ for the day is short and the night is long, very long

For as soon as we have come away from Ritacene, Phalgacene comes and meets us head on
And I dare not stay in the fire of foolish men when the night ends and dies to the fires of dawn
But much is lost in the play of the Twins, for now let me tell you their tale, my dear new friends-
Ritacene is the goddess of all that is order, and her twin Phalgacene, the goddess of all chaos
They mirror their father and uncle- Palcion and Retisbond- he who brings life and he who ends
Retisbon of the Limits cannot bear child- so Palcion bears twins, and gives Phalgacene to him

Palcion’s creations all float at random. And so Ritacene, with her many hands, arranges them all
Retisbon strips them of being, so Phalgacene chews them with her many sharp teeth for death
All that is created was a thought by Palcion, which were then designed by Ritacene’s many hands
All that dies is called to come to Retisbon, and their bodies torn apart by the jaws of Phalgacene
And so, all that Ritacene designs is order, which is a vision of nature and its divine creation
And to resist her designs is a tune of chaos, to which man marches to the jaws of Phalgacene.

As to not upset her sister, Phalgacene swore to swallow those who live and die as she designed
As to not starve her sister, Ritacene gave those who resisted design for her to chew and devour
When men live in peace, we live by the design of Ritacene and so die gently by Phalgacene
But as you see, man has used the designs of Ritacene for crime, greed, lust, power, and evil-
And so, Ritacene shall grow angry and Phalgacene shall grow fat and the darkness will follow
The rhythm of nature will be obscured and war shall overcome- the wrath of the Twin goddesses

Lady Abro and Chazan, the sky King, and their children- the seasons- will take ear of Ritacene
Times will grow dark just like the Sky- Winter and Autumn shall fatten as their siblings grow thin
The darkness and cold shall go one for longer, while summer and spring will never yonder!
Man cannot eat his gems and gold, nor his women and slaves, though he could go on and try!
Man cannot come to his governor, for the coward has fled, with the city’s coffers and food!
Man will **** man for what little is left, and  what little is left for man- a banquet for Phalgacene

‘In the desert, he sit on the lips of Phalgacene. There is already little to begin with, yet some live’
I take a cactus by the hand and break it open for the three- ‘here is our water, and this- our food’
I take a locust and put it in my mouth. ‘Here lies the realm closest to Phalgacene.’ I tell the three
‘Yet in this realm, we are safest- for the food of the twin of chaos will go over our heads’ I said.
‘Go back!’ I tell them. ‘Go and bring back only what I tell you: Your names, papyrus, and reed’
‘We shall jot down the history of the world and all that ever has and will!’ I'll tell them.’

They brought back their names- the three where
Barzan, meaning calligraphy
Valkar, meaning letters
Homet- meaning ‘meaning’
three scribes stood with their master,
Eebrhu, whose name meant language