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Geis
by Kendall Evans


Someone must kiss the frog
The tongue of someone
Lick the toad
Yet you refuse
To be thus wooed
To act or observation

Maw and throat
Gall of goat, slips of yew
Wool of bat
Forked mandrake root
Gathered at the moon's eclipse

Do you suppose
It all evolves
Unfolds
In increments of cause, effect?

Someone must construct
A geis unguessed
Else a spell to summon magic
Break our bondage
Slay the Minotaur
Lurking, there
At the very dead center
Of this maze

Root of hemlock
Eye of newt, an adder's tongue
Dried pig penis, howlet's wing,
Powdered horn of unicorn,
A dragon's blood

Yet you do not understand, or
You refuse to comprehend
And so I must enact this rite alone
In secret privacy:
The belly of the toad
So pond-scum slick
Now sticky with saliva

The toad's back
Scabrous surface
Warted, buboed, barnacled
A complex textured scape
That leads to hidden valleys
Enchanted forests
And radiant icy mountain slopes
At altitudes above the reach of ancient trees

 

 

 

 

 


©2007 Helix. No content may be used without permission.       This issue published October 1, 2007